Make Me Happy
by DaBlackVegeta
Summary: The petty fights, the nights spent alone, she always thought she made his life miserable by being in it. But what she doesn't know is, she's the only one that made his life feel worthwhile. She was the only one that made him truly happy...until she took herself, and someone else, out of his life. Now he knew what misery truly was.
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Hey Arnold**

**Prologue**

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me."

"Well it _had _to be someone, it's not like it just got up and walked right out of the kitchen!"

"Well maybe you misplaced it..."

"I wouldn't misplace my freakin' cellphone, Arnoldo! I always keep it in the same spot every night!" Helga G. Pataki slammed the door to her apartment shut, before her long time boyfriend, Arnold Shortman, opened the door and proceeded into the place behind her, showing a rare look of impatience all over his face.

"What would I even do with your cellphone, Helga?"

"I dunno, you tell me," the blonde furiously rummaged through the drawers in her room. "Damn it, you know I'm waiting on a call from that publishing company!" She slammed the last drawer shut and let out a frustrated groan. "Why do you always pull the dumbest crap at the most inopportune times?!"

"Look, _you _had it last," Arnold reminded her.

"No, I told you to hold it last night remember?" Helga was facing him now. "After class I had to go back to ask Professor Williams something, I left you with my bag that had my damn phone in it!"

"And I gave it back to you right when you came back."

"Doi!" Helga was now under the bed. "But you told me you heard it ring and you picked it up, what did you do with it after that?"

"I put it back in the bag."

"No you didn't, Football Head!"

Arnold bit back a swear and clenched his fist tightly. Normally petty arguments like this didn't get him riled up, heck serious arguments hardly made him angry, but today had been an especially bad day for him. First, he missed his first class and subsequently missed a test, meaning he lost big points on his grade. Then he dropped his $1000 laptop, that he recently bought, on the ground and broke it in half. And on top of that, his long time girlfriend had screamed her head off earlier at him about him forgetting to fill the car up with gas, something _she _was supposed to do yesterday.

"Tch, you are so freaking unreliable sometimes," Helga muttered just loud enough for him to hear. "I ask you to do one simple thing, and you manage to screw that up. You can't fill up the car when you're supposed to, you can't hold onto a phone, you can't pay attention-"

"Oh here we go again." Arnold rolled his eyes. "I don't wanna hear this now."

"Well you wouldn't have to if you weren't ignoring me so goddamn much," Helga spat. "I mean, crimeny, I thought I was supposed to be your girlfriend. Yet you can't even spare two seconds out of your day for me."

"Me? You're the one that's always busy," Arnold accused. "It's either 'I've got to finish this chapter' or 'Go find something to do, I'm working here' or 'I'm tired, just go play with yourself'. I mean seriously, it's like you don't even want to try anymore."

"Bah, don't try to come off as the good guy," Helga folded her arms over her chest. "You haven't even looked at me in weeks, much less initiate anything intimate. What's the problem Football Head? Am I not good enough to please you anymore?"

"You know it's got nothing to do with that."

Helga narrowed her eyes at him, before scoffing upon realization. "Crimeny, not this shit again."

"You're the one that brought it up."

"Well I already told you it's not gonna happen," Helga spat at him. "No matter what you say or do, or in this case _don't _do, it's not gonna change my mind. I don't want kids, Arnold."

Arnold bit his lip at her last sentence, this was the real source of their arguments. Before the subject of kids came up in their nine-year relationship, the two hardly ever fought over anything, and when they did they were quick to make up. But then as their relationship grew serious, Arnold began talking about the future and a family he'd want to call his own one day. That's when everything went wrong.

"I don't get it," he grumbled. "You're saying you won't even consider it, in the future?"

"No! This isn't up for negotiation, Football Head!" Helga hollered. "I don't care what you say, I'm not changing my mind!"

"But Helga-"

"No buts!" Helga stomped her foot. "You saw what my parents are like, that's probably gonna be me one of these days. I'll either end up a blowhard idiot or a stinkin' drunk that sleeps all day, I'm not putting a child through what I went through."

"Helga, I've already told you, you're nothing like your parents," Arnold said running a hand along her cheek. "Maybe someday you'll change your mind, maybe in a few years-"

"No," Helga took his arms off her. "Just...no Arnold, it's never gonna happen. I can't compromise on this, not even for you."

"Even if we get married?"

Helga fought the urge to swoon at the idea of her getting married to him and settled for quietly shaking her head. Arnold angrily growled and pushed past Helga, storming out of the apartment with a loud slam to the door.

"Fuck..." Helga sighed in defeat.

She hated this. After years of pining after the boy she'd love since she was a toddler, after years and years of happiness and joy between the two, it just seemed that now everything was completely miserable. She knew this would happen, she knew she was bad for Arnold. The past nine years may have felt like a dream to her, but she was certain that they were nightmarish to him. She tried her best to be a good girlfriend, she tried being nice and thoughtful and caring, but she just couldn't fight through her nature. At the end of the day, she was still that same bully from P.S. 118 that used to make everyone she came across miserable, even Arnold.

"What's the big deal about having kids anyway?" she grumbled to herself. "I mean, we don't _have _to have them in order to be happy together. At least I don't, all I need is him."

But that wasn't enough for him apparently, he wanted that 'normal' family life that he never got to have as a child. And who could blame him? The guy deserved it. He deserved all the happiness in the world, more than she should ever give him no matter how hard she tried.

Helga sighed again and stood up, heading toward her room and opening her closet. In side was not a bunch of clothes, shoes or any other things she liked to pack in there, the only things in there were Arnold's clothes and two suitcases. Helga held back a few tears and grabbed the suitcases, pulling them into the living room. She then picked up the key to the apartment as well as a thick envelope and placed it on the kitchen table.

"I'm sorry," she muttered to herself before heading out the door. "I love you Arnold, but I can't make you happy."

And with that she was gone.

* * *

Arnold somberly stared down at the drink in his hand before downing the entire thing in one gulp. "Christ man," his best friend, Gerald Johanssen, told him. "You and Helga had _another _fight?"

"Yeah, over a stupid cellphone," Arnold sighed. "I just don't understand it." The two paid for their drinks before heading out of the bar and down the street.

"Mm mm mm," Gerald shook his head. "You two have been going at it like crazy. Seriously man, I've never seen you down so many drinks so angrily."

"I'm just so frustrated," Arnold admitted before falling quiet for a second. "We started talking about kids again."

"Arnold-"

"It's not like I want them _now_, I'm still in college after all," Arnold told him. "But someday, I'd really like to start a family with her."

Gerald shook his head again. "I'm guessing Pataki still isn't budging on that one?" Arnold's defeated sigh answered the dark skinned man's questions. The two walked in silence for a while before eventually arriving back at Arnold's apartment.

"I should just apologize," he told Gerald as he stuck the key in the knob. "Maybe one day she'll change her mind, but I really don't want to fight over this anymore."

Arnold pushed open the door and cautiously walked inside the dark apartment. "Helga?" he called out. "Are you still here?" He got no answer and decided to turn on the lights. "Hm, the car is still parked outside."

"Maybe she's asleep?" Gerald offered.

Arnold's eyes darted around the room before they locked onto the kitchen table where he noticed something there. His eyes widened when he saw Helga's key as well as a envelope there, opening it he found a large sum of money within the envelope. "It's over $1800," Arnold said. "This is her yearly half of the rent..."

Gerald immediately knew what was going on and he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry Arnold."

Arnold was completely shocked, he put his hands on the table in an effort to keep himself upright. "Damn it," he said before throwing the envelop across the kitchen. "Damn it all!"

The envelope smacked right into the small trash can, knocking it over on the kitchen floor. "Hn?" Something fell out of the trash can that caught Gerald's eye, he pushed past his angry friend and picked up the object, his face immediately twisting in shock.

"Arnold," he said quietly. "You might want to see this."

"What is it Gerald?" Arnold snapped, not looking in his direction.

"It's a pregnancy test," Gerald told him holding it in front of Arnold's face. "Take a look at the result." Very soon, Arnold's angry face twisted just like Gerald's had a few minutes ago.

"No," he said just above a whisper. "I-It's positive."

**A/N: First Hey Arnold story, one of my favorite shows of all time. So yeah this first chapter was short, but it's a prologue so whatever. Anyway, I'm excited to finally be entering the H/A fandom. So until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


	2. Time Changes Things

**Chapter one: Time changes things**

A short, attractive, young-looking woman cursed under her breath. It was late, really late, and here she was stuck at her stupid job, again. Now it wasn't like she had anything to do, well besides sit on her couch and watch cheesy romantic movies with a tub of ice cream, but who really wants to be sitting in a dead empty office at midnight while being constantly badgered by their workaholic idiot of a boss?

Not Sherry Williams. Hell, Ii the pay weren't so high and she didn't need a car so badly, she'd have quit a long time ago. Not without, of course, giving her asshole boss a piece of her mind.

"Sherry!" Speak of the asshole, his mere voice made her growl angrily. "Get in here now!"

The 23-year-old grumbled to herself and sauntered into the large office behind her. "Yes Mr. Shortman?"

There, sitting in his large chair behind his large mahogany desk was the new CEO of Future Tech Industries, was Arnold Shortman. Now it's easy to badmouth him while not in his presence, but when faced to face with him, it's a different story. The guy just might be the most intimidating person Sherry had ever met in her life.

"Sherry, did you finish those documents I sent you?" he asked in a cold, business-like voice that made most people shiver.

"Yes sir." Sherry gave him a fake smile. "A-And sir, it's unprofessional to call me by my first name. Ms. Williams will do just fine."

"Also, did you arrange the next meeting?" Arnold continued, ignoring her as he so often did.

"Yes sir." Sherry sighed.

"What about my coffee?"

"Yes...wait a minute what?" Sherry arched an eyebrow. "You didn't say anything about coffee, sir."

"Yes I did, I specifically asked for coffee five hours ago," Arnold folded his arms. "I was actually seeing if you'd notice your mistake, obviously not. Maybe I overestimated your intelligence."

"Sir-"

"Anyway, here I need you to take these down to the archives," he handed her a stack of folders. "I'll also need those double-checked before you take them down."

"What? But that will take another two hours!" Sherry protested. "Sir, it's getting pretty late, and I have to be home soon."

"You're a top notch secretary working for a top notch company, Sherry," Arnold told her in an uncaring tone. "Surely you can handle such a simple task."

"E-Even I have limits, sir," Sherry spoke. "And please, it's Ms. Williams."

Arnold didn't say anything and just grabbed his coat, heading out of the office. "I expect this done by morning, Sherry, no excuses," he told her. Before she could protest any further, Arnold was already walking out of the building, leaving the poor girl alone.

"I should have stayed a waitress," Sherry groaned.

* * *

Arnold fell onto his couch, not even bothering to change out of his work clothes. For a while he just sat there, no movement and no real emotion on his face, then his face began to twist into sorrow as he looked down at his floor.

Even after eight years, eight long and agonizing years, he still couldn't forget her..._them_. The pain in his chest felt the same as it had the day they walked out of his life. He tried looking for them, for two years he relentlessly searched for their whereabouts. But it was like they disappeared off the earth. None of his friends knew anything, her parents wouldn't speak with him, not even Olga, who obviously knew something, would even give him a hint. Phoebe might have been a good option, however she had disappeared with her.

So all he could do was give up, and move on. He really tried to let them go, to forget that they even existed. He overworked himself, fought his way to the top, took over a company he had once despised in his life, all in an effort to forget them. But now matter how hard he tried, he would always return to his empty mansion all alone. No unibrowed, feisty female there waiting for him like he always dreamed she'd be. No child running into his arms, happy to see their father after his long day at work. He wasn't foolish enough to believe all those after school specials saying that "all his dreams would come true", but he'd always thought that he'd at least have that much at this point in his life.

Eventually his sorrow began to change, as it so often did when he was alone, into pure rage. How dare she walk away from him, and carrying his child no less? Hadn't he been good to her? Hadn't he put up with all her bullshit for the 19 years that he'd known her? Hadn't he been there for her when she was sad? Hadn't _she _been there for _him_?

Arnold never thought he'd actually say this, but he truly hated her.

The mere thought of her makes his blood boil like it'd never had, the dark thoughts about her were things he could never speak to anyone. And yet, despite all of that, his heart still aches for her. The longing he feels every night when she's not beside him is quite unbearable, sometimes to the point where he can't even sleep. Heck, as embarrassing as it is, he's even cried on a few nights.

Arnold clenched his fists and buried his face into his hands. "I need a drink," he grumbled. Just as he was about to head to his liquor cabinet, he felt an unmistakeable vibration in his pocket, he almost didn't answer it until he realized who was calling him.

"What is it Gerald?"

"You already left the office?"

"Yes, I left Sherry to finish up the work," Arnold spoke in his usual business-like tone. "As always she tried to weasel herself out of it."

"Oh man," Gerald chuckled. "She must be pissed off, I'm surprised she's lasted this long. Most of your secretaries before usually quit by now. You're always overworking them."

"Sherry's a stubborn one, I'll give her that," Arnold said. "I was actually thinking of bringing her along on our trip to California."

"Well we do need someone to boss around while we're dealing with those bureaucrats," Gerald joked. "You know, I think she likes you."

"Not this again..."

"I'm serious, have you ever noticed how she looks at you?"

"I'm too busy to notice things like that," Arnold said coldly. "Besides, I'm almost certain Sherry dislikes me, just as everyone else that works under me."

"Well you're kind of a hardass," Gerald chuckled. "I'm kidding, but you should definitely give her a shot. You haven't been out with anyone in a while, man." Arnold suddenly fell silent, prompting Gerald to sigh over the phone.

"Arnold-"

"How has the family been?" the CEO interrupted his friend. Gerald let out another sigh.

"Okay, I guess. Mariah's being...well her usual self again. Junior's been a good dude though."

"Have the two of you worked out your...issues yet?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'worked out'," Gerald sounded a bit frustrated. "I don't know what it is Arnold, it's like nothing's there anymore. She's angry, I'm angry, Junior's crying, it's all a mess."

"I don't know why you married her in the first place," Arnold told him.

"Neither do I."

"She's definitely no Phoebe, that's for sure."

It was now Gerald's turn to be silent over the phone. "Look," Gerald said firmly, as if he were trying to hold something. "I'm over that now, I'm over _her_. I've moved on with my life, and it's time you did too."

Before Arnold could retort Gerald had already hung up, prompting the blonde to roll his eyes and chuck his phone on the couch, heading back over to the liquor cabinet, he _really _needed that drink now. As he poured himself a glass of his strongest liquor, he noticed that he'd left his morning paper on his table.

"I guess the press got the news early," he grumbled noticing the headline. "'Monster Billionaire vs The People, ten reasons why Future Tech Industries should not tear down our neighborhoods'. Hmph, how trivial." Arnold arched his eyebrow at the author of the piece. "Geraldine H. Shortman? Hmm, that's an odd name. Not to mention my last name isn't all too common, maybe she's a distant relative?" He shrugged his shoulders, deciding to think about it tomorrow and tossed aside the paper before grabbing his drink and heading back into his living room.

* * *

"That was an excellent piece Miss!"

"As always, you impress us with your top-notched talent."

"You are a genius!"

The cheering people all surrounded an attractive woman who stood in the middle of them, wearing a victorious smirk on her face. "Oh it was nothing," she spoke in a slightly English accent. "I'm just doing my part to make us the best in the country."

"Well Geraldine, with you on our team, that dream is attainable," someone spoke. "Let's just hope she doesn't get snatched up by the bloodsuckers at the LA Times."

Everyone shared in a good laugh but were interrupted when a loud booming voice hollered "Shortman! Get in here now!" Geraldine waved off her co-workers and headed into an office located at the end of the hall.

"Mr. Richardson," the dark-haired woman poked her head into the office. "You wanted to speak with me?"

Don Richardson, a short, round, bald man, sat in his desk wearing a frown on his face, as he always did. "I wanted to congratulate on that column of yours," he spoke still with a frown on his face. "You truly are a once-in-a-lifetime genius, I must say that we are lucky to have you."

"You flatter me sir," Geraldine smiled. "However, it is I that should be thankful to you for giving me this opportunity."

"At any rate, on to the business," Mr. Richardson leaned back in his comfy chair. "As you know, the ever mysterious CEO of Future Tech Industries is visiting California, trying to tear down those old neighborhoods down in South Central. Now personally, I'm not one to care about matters like this, however this is one person we can't ignore."

"What do you mean sir?"

"I mean, do you know how many people have been wanting to see the man behind that gigantic company?" Mr. Richardson asked. "No one, outside of the people he's worked with, has ever even seen his face. Even his own employees have never met the man, they don't even know his name, all they call him is The Man. Well I want to know _exactly _who The Man is, and I plan on putting my best person on the job."

Geraldine tapped her chin and smiled. "It sounds quite interesting, uncovering the mystery of one of the most powerful men in America," she smirked. "Alright, I accept. On one condition though."

Mr. Richardson's face instantly fell. "Does it involve more money?"

"Of course."

"Ugh fine," Mr. Richardson folded his arms. "I'll triple your salary, but you _must _get his identity." He gave her a serious look. "Remember our motto, 'by any means necessary'."

* * *

"So your boss wants you to sneak around and invade the privacy of a multi-billionare man?" a small Asian woman asked her friend as she cleaned the dishes in the sink. "That doesn't seem right to me, since when did you become the paparazzi?"

Geraldine rolled her eyes and propped her feet on the table. "Well what can you expect me to do, Phoebe?" she no longer spoke in an English accent. "Besides, I'm curious about this myself."

"What happened to those great and insightful columns you like to write?" Phoebe asked. "Or that novel you wanted to get published?"

"I'm still working on those things," Geraldine grinned. "But this is more interesting right now. Why would a man so rich and powerful need to hide his identity?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes at her long time friend. "I'm sure he has his reasons," she countered.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna find out those reasons," Geraldine grinned throwing a triumphant fist in the air. "Or my name isn't Geraldine H. Shortman."

Phoebe eyed her friend and murmured "That isn't your name though."

Geraldine picked up on that, but didn't say anything and turned off the TV. "I'm gonna crash now, Pheebs," she yawned. "Thanks for dinner, it was delicious as always."

"You're welcome," Phoebe said quietly. She watched from the corner of her eye as Geraldine began climbing up the stairs to her room, then when she was out of earshot, she let out a big sigh. "Oh Helga," she said to herself.

Meanwhile, now in the solitude of her room, Geraldine was sitting on the floor up against the door. She stared up at her room that was covered in awards, ribbons and newspaper clippings of her. However, her eyes refused to look at any of those things that now seemed quite trivial to her, no her eyes were focused on was a golden heart shaped locket, perched right on her desk. Hesitantly, Geraldine reached for the locket and proceeded to open it with caution. Inside, was a small picture of a young man and woman, interlocked in a sweet romantic kiss. Geraldine stared at the picture, feeling her heart ache all over again.

She never intended to get over him, she's not that dumb to think her feelings would go away, not even after all these years. She had known since she was very young that her feelings were strong enough to last forever, no matter how far away she was from him. But she'd at least hope that the pain would have subsided by now, oh how foolish she was.

"Arnold my love," she said to no one as she began feeling herself drift off into sleep. "I hope you are truly happy..."

**A/N: Well that was chapter two folks. I enjoyed all of the reviews I got, those are what fuels my writing. So yeah, this was kind of a introductary "Where are they now?" chapter, not really anything special. So yeah, I hope you all continue to enjoy. Until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


	3. I can't let go

**Chapter two: I can't let go**

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I told you about this two days ago, why the hell are you acting so surprised now?!"

"You didn't tell me you were leaving in the morning! Now who's gonna take G.J. to school?"

"You can drive, you take him!"

"I have an appointment in an hour!"

Arnold let out an exasperated sigh as he sat in his limousine and listened to the two people argue in the house they were parked at. Now, the man didn't like to eavesdrop on private conversations, but it was kind of hard not to hear when Gerald and Mariah got into arguments, hell most of the neighborhood could hear those two when they got into it.

"It feels kind of nostalgic," Arnold said to himself bitterly, unwanted memories beginning to surface.

"Sir, maybe we should go somewhere else, at least until they sort this out," Sherry offered.

"No need," Arnold waved her off. "They'll be done soon, they never go on longer than ten minutes."

"We've been out here for half an hour," Sherry told him. "At this rate, we'll be off schedule."

"You can restructure it, can't you?"

Sherry sent him an irritated glare that he didn't see because he wasn't paying attention to her. "Well fine, if your damn appointment is _so _important, then I'll take G.J. to school!"

Gerald was suddenly storming out of the door holding his little seven-year-old son's hand. "Sorry about this Arnold," Gerald sighed as he climbed into the car with his boy. "You wouldn't mind stopping off at P.S. 118 would you?"

"It's fine."

"I swear, Mariah is so..." Gerald held his tongue when he noticed G.J. staring at him. "Sorry about that little man, I hope you aren't too upset."

"Nah, it's okay, I'm used to it." G.J. told him absentmindedly. "This is a pretty cool car though, Uncle Arnold."

Gerald chuckled at his son and rubbed his head. "Now are you gonna behave yourself?" he asked him. "I don't want another call from the school telling me you've released another horde of rats."

"That was an accident."

"Yeah right, you are my son after all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I better not get a call from the school while I'm gone."

"Dad..."

It didn't take very long to reach P.S. 118 as the limo pulled up in front of the school, as G.J. got ready to get out of the car, he turned to face his father with a worried expression on his face. "Dad...you're coming back right?" he asked quietly.

"Huh?"

"I said you're coming back right?" G.J. looked away for a second. "You and Mom have been fighting a lot and I keep thinking you might not wanna come back, like you might hate us."

Gerald gave his son an equally worried look before sighing. "Nah, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going away for a few days, for my job" he said reassuringly. "Your Mom and I will work it out, somehow. I won't leave you, little man. And I'll _never _hate you or your mother, you understand?"

"Okay," Gerald and G.J. bumped fists before the latter headed off into the school.

"You know, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Arnold spoke up as they started off toward their destination. "I highly doubt you and Mariah will make it through the year."

"More like a month," Gerald sighed. "To be perfectly honest, I've seriously been contemplating divorce."

"Then why haven't you filed yet?"

"It's not that easy," the dark-skinned man slumped in his seat. "You saw G.J.'s face, he's scared to death that I'll leave him forever. I can't put him through that, he's my son Arnold."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "I think It's stupid to stay in a relationship if you don't like the person. I mean, if I didn't like Sherry I wouldn't keep her as my secretary would I? But I do like her, so she's still around."

"Sometimes I wonder about that, sir."

"I mean, look at you," Arnold, of course, ignored Sherry as his eyes went to Gerald's neck. "You're _still _wearing that necklace, aren't you?"

Gerald didn't answer his question and folded his arms, contemplating what his long time friend just said. What he wouldn't give to just end it with Mariah already, just kick her out of his life. But he knew it was virtually impossible, no matter what she'd be the mother of a child he cared about more than anything. He didn't hate her, not at all, but as of right now, he can't understand what made him 'love' her in the first place. What had possessed him to marry her? Why did he have a child with her? Why the hell was he so unhappy?

He's the Vice President of a major company, he's rich and powerful and he's only 29, not to mention he's married to a beautiful, albeit infuriating, woman...and yet he was hardly happy with his life. And he knew why he wasn't truly happy at all, because a very important person that he envisioned in his life was currently missing. He gently touched a place on his chest where he felt two hard objects through his shirt.

"And I'm trying to get Arnold to move on," he muttered to himself. "I'm such a hypocrite."

* * *

"Yes I will ask the housekeepers to send up more towels," Phoebe said into a phone. "Yes, of course, have a nice day."

She hung up the phone and let out a bored sigh. "It's alright eight," she looked at her watch. "Mr. Simpson, am I allowed to go home now?"

"What?!" Charles Simpson was an elderly man who somehow managed to keep a job as a supervisor.

"I said can I go home now?"

"Can you go smoke now? Sure you can."

"Not smoke, go _home_."

"Oh, well why didn't ya say so. Sure you can Squinty-Eyes."

Phoebe rolled her eyes at the somewhat racist nickname he'd given her and gathered her things to leave. "Oh great, it's pouring outside," she sighed again and flipped open her phone, dialing 1. "Helga? It's me. It's really coming down out here and you've got the car, can you come pick me up from work?"

"Can't, I'm on the other side of town right now waiting on the FTi private jet," Helga responded. "I'm guessing their flight was delayed because of the weather."

"But I can't walk home in this," Phoebe told her. "Helga I really need you."

"Don't you have any money? Just catch the bus."

"But the next one won't be here for an hour."

"Look I'll make it up to ya, I-"

Suddenly Phoebe couldn't hear anything, she checked to look at her phone and saw that it had suddenly gone dead. "Great, just great," she angrily slammed the phone shut and began running into the rain toward the bus stop. "Twenty minutes, I guess that's not too bad."

Phoebe shook her head and sat down at the stop, gently rubbing her temples as a means to calm herself down. She wasn't angry, she never got angry, especially these days, she just felt extremely exhausted, and stressed of course. Very, very stressed. And she had a good reason to be. She worked in a horrible dead-end job in the call center of a hotel with a senile old boss who constantly forgets she even works there, not to mention likes to point out she's got 'squinty eyes' (they don't even squint that much, she wasn't fully Asian). And if that wasn't bad enough, she still had to do most, if not all, of the cleaning because her roommate liked to stay late, she had to spend _her _money on the food that _she _always had to cook for two, she never got to use the car that she put up most of the money for, and to top it all off she had absolutely no free time to herself.

"This isn't how a 28-year-old should be living her life, I've already started getting gray hairs," she mumbled to herself. "And Helga isn't helping the situation at all." Phoebe bit her lip and let her head fall into her hands. "Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision eight years ago." She felt her eyes begin to water, and not from the rain. "I left my good job, my parents, my friends...and my fiancee."

She looked down at her hand, in particular her ring finger. It felt like only yesterday that she had the biggest, shiniest, diamond ring placed right on that finger. She remember how every time she looked at it, her heart would just burst open, now every time she looked at the finger, her heart only ached. The water in her eyes grew and began spilling down her cheeks, Phoebe quickly wiped them away, she had vowed eight years ago to not cry and she damn sure wasn't going to start now.

"What's done is done," she told herself. "I'm sure he's forgotten all about me already..."

Telling herself that only made her felt worse.

* * *

"At seven you have a meeting with the state senator, then at nine you have dinner arrangements with the board of directors, then at...sir are you listening to me?"

Arnold didn't answer his secretary and just drank his champagne as he stared out the window of his jet. Sherry sighed and put away her planner.

"Sir, you're supposed to sip champagne, not down it in one drink." Arnold didn't answer her, and just refilled his glass. "Fine then, we can at least talk about how we're going to hide your face when we land."

That made Gerald snort loudly. "The press are going to be lining up the moment we touch Cali, it's gonna be tough to hide Arnold this time."

Arnold downed the champagne again and started refilling the glass once more. "Then maybe we shouldn't hide anymore," he suggested placidly. "Frankly, I've grown tired of sneaking around like I'm some wanted fugitive."

"I'm not sure the board will like that, sir," Sherry spoke up.

"The board doesn't own my company," Arnold told her. "They don't have to like it, but they will deal with it. It's not like they have a real choice."

Sherry opened her mouth to protest but found nothing to say and folded her arms in frustration. "Don't worry Sherry, I'm not going to do it now," Arnold told her. "I've already decided that I will reveal myself on this trip, but I'll save that for after I destroy those neighborhoods. We can go with the usual disguise for now."

The secretary rolled her eyes and mumbled something Arnold couldn't catch, so he just shrugged and started looking out the window again as they began to descend, and downed his drink once again.

* * *

"Damn it, who would have thought so much of the press would be here?" Geraldine hissed to herself as she shoved past the other people holding cameras and recording devices. "I've got to at least try to get a good spot." She settled for standing in the middle row, being crushed by an overweight sweaty man and an over-muscled woman. "I don't get paid enough for this."

"Look! It's the FTi jet!"

Everyone began to push and shove pretty violently, as they watched the small jet begin to land slowly on the ground. The press didn't even allow the door to open completely before they began bombarding the passengers with incoherent questions, Geraldine watched as a short female with medium length blonde hair and glasses stepped from the aircraft with three large bodyguards behind her.

"Now's my chance," Geraldine quickly maneuvered past everyone until she was as close as she could be to the woman. "Miss, could you spare a few words?"

"I'm sorry, but my bosses really have to be going," Sherry held her hand up. "If you want an interview with me, you'll have to schedule another time."

"Oh but it's not you I want," Geraldine smirked. "I wish to speak with your bosses, particularly the man in charge."

"Sorry, but our CEO does not wish to do any interviews." Geraldine eyed the woman as another person emerged from the jet, this person wore a large hood as well as a white mask over their face. "I assume that is The Man?" Before Sherry could retort, Geraldine was already in front of the masked man, holding her recorder right in front of his face.

"Mr. CEO, may I take a few minutes out of your time?" The person didn't answer her, prompting the journalist to arch a confused eyebrow. "Not very talkative are you? The least you could do is-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was quickly knocked over by other members of the press, falling right into a large puddle. "Alright, alright," the bodyguards were now standing in front of everyone. "You're not getting any interviews, no one is going to talk to you."

Geraldine groaned loudly under the mass of people, as she forced herself to get back up, spitting mud water out of her mouth. "I _really _don't get paid enough for this."

Meanwhile, the members of the FTi company had finally made it past the unrelenting crowd of press and into their awaiting limo. "That was worse than normal," Sherry moaned. "Especially that one annoying woman."

"I've recently realized how stupid this mask is," Arnold removed it from his face. "Maybe it really would have been easier to show my face when we landed."

"I dunno, I find this to be quite fun," Gerald suddenly spoke it. "It's like we're famous celebrities sometimes."

"Ruthless, cruel celebrities that destroy lives more often than not," Arnold grinned back to his friend. "So we're more like infamous celebrities."

"Yeah well, it comes with the job." Gerald relaxed in the limo. "Oh, right. Sherry, did you drop anything?"

"It's Ms. Williams sir," Sherry tried to hide her growl. "And no, not that I know of."

"Hm, that's weird." Gerald pulled something out of his pocket. "I found this thing on the ground by a puddle, it looks like it belongs to a woman."

Sherry took it from Gerald and examined it. "It's a locket," she told him opening it. "There's a photo in here." Sherry suddenly wore a perplexed look on her face.

"Is there a problem?"

"Um," she looked at the photo, then looked at Arnold, then back at the photo, then at Arnold again.

"Sherry, what is it?"

"Do you have a twin brother, sir?"

"Okay, this is getting annoying," Arnold snatched the locket from her and looked at it, in a matter of seconds all the color suddenly drained from his face.

"Arnold?"

"Gerald...this locket." He held it toward Gerald for him to see. "This is _hers_..."

Gerald immediately knew who _her _was. "Say what?!" he took it from his friend and stared at the picture. "Y-You're right, this is definitely hers. But wouldn't that mean..." Arnold nodded, a dark glare taking over his face.

"Helga is here."

**A/N: Well, that was convenient. Anyway, not much else to say here. So until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


	4. The Hunt Resumes

**Chapter four: The hunt resumes**

"Now hold on man," Gerald was frantically trying to talk with Arnold as he stormed through the halls of their hotel. "Are we even sure she's really here? I mean, she could have tossed that thing a long time ago."

Arnold didn't answer, he just kept walking until he reached his suite. "Hold all my calls," he finally said stepping into his room, only to have Gerald put his foot in the doorway.

"I'm not Sherry, don't speak to me like that," Gerald glared at his friend. "We're gonna talk about this before you do anything crazy."

"You think I'm going to go looking for her?"

"I _know _you're going to look for her."

"Well, can you blame me?" Arnold allowed Gerald to step into his room. "After all we've been through, she just walks out of my life without a single word but a stupid note, and to make matters worse she's fucking pregnant with my child that I haven't gotten to see in these 8 years. So yeah, you can bet that I'll be looking for her. And it won't be pretty when I find her."

Gerald nodded and sat down on the sofa. "I understand Arnold, but we can't just start a manhunt," he spoke in a reasonable tone. "We're here for business first, remember?"

Arnold opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding. "Of course, how could I forget?" he seemed to have calmed slightly as he opened the fridge. "Good, they've got vodka. I definitely need something stronger than champagne."

Gerald's eyebrow arched when he saw that his best friend made no move to grab a glass and just started drinking right from the bottle. "Geez man," he muttered. "It's a bit early to be getting smashed."

"I can't help it," Arnold slumped on the sofa. "I drink when I think about her, which is a lot." He took another swig and quickly wiped his mouth as the door flew open revealing an angry Sherry.

"Damn press," she huffed before glaring at her bosses. "Thanks for leaving me down there to deal with those idiots."

"Don't be a drama queen," Gerald kicked back. "It's part of your job."

"That seems to be your excuse for everything," Sherry mumbled turning to look at Arnold. "Sir, why are you drinking now? We've got a meeting in three hours." As always, the CEO ignored his secretary and pulled out locket once more. "Um...is he alright?" Sherry looked at Gerald.

"It's complicated," he responded to her. "The girl in the picture is an old friend of Arnold's."

"Seems like a little more than a friend to me," Sherry spoke before catching herself. "Er...sorry, I shouldn't meddle in your business sir."

"She _was _more than a friend," Arnold opened the locket. "She _was _everything to me and I loved her, but that was in the past. Now I _despise _her."

Gerald didn't react at all to the harsh words from his friend. Over the years he'd realized that Arnold had changed quite a bit, and not for the better. He was no longer that boy with the heart of gold that wanted nothing more than to make everyone around him happy, now he was a man with an iron heart that made everyone miserable, including himself. But Gerald knew that Arnold still had one weakness, one thing that kept him from going off the deep end. He still loved Helga, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

"Arnold, give me the locket," Gerald told him extending his hand. "If you keep it with you, it's only gonna make things worse for you."

Arnold bit his lip and nodded his head, handing over the locket to Gerald. Before he could close it, however, a small picture fell out and landed on the floor. Arnold grabbed the picture and looked at it, expecting it to be the same one he'd seen earlier. Like before, the color of his face changed, but this time he didn't turn white, instead his face turned red with building rage.

"Damn it!" he slammed his fist on the table. "As if this day couldn't get any worse!"

Before either Sherry or Gerald could ask what was wrong, Arnold put the picture on the table for the both of them to see. "Holy..." Gerald took a closer look. "Arnold, is this-"

The sound of the door to Arnold's room slamming cut off Gerald. "This isn't good, this is not good at all." He stood up and shook his head, grabbing for his coat. "Sherry, I'm gonna go ahead to get something to eat. I need to think for a minute, you want anything?"

"Just the usual, if they even have it here."

"Right," as the Vice President began to leave the room, he gave Sherry one last look. "Keep an eye on him okay? This stuff has got him really messed up."

"Of course, sir."

"Be back soon," Gerald waved and closed the door, leaving Sherry alone in the room with the photo in her hand. She looked to the room where her boss was and slowly walked toward it, knocking on the door softly.

"Um sir, may I come in?" She didn't get an answer, she honestly didn't expect to. Mustering up whatever courage she had, she opened the door, seeing Arnold sitting on his bed hunched over and staring at the floor.

"If I'm not being too meddlesome," Sherry began. "The best way to deal with internal problems is to talk them out, it really helps." Arnold huffed and rubbed his head.

"It's a long story," he told her.

Sherry nodded and sat next to him on the bed. "We've got three hours."

* * *

Geraldine let out an angry growl as she let the door slam behind her. It wasn't bad enough that she got trampled in the mud while trying to do her job, but she also got an earful from her idiot boss for 'failing' on the job. Now she has an hour to clean herself up and go all the way back up town to the hotel where the FTi people are staying.

"Pheebs, you in?" The sound of footsteps above her let her know that she was.

"I'm upstairs Helga," Pheobe's voice was heard from her room. "Did you need anything?"

"No," Geraldine was about to head to the bathroom before she sighed. "Pheebs, I'm sorry for not being there for you."

"It's alright," she sounded like she was in the hall now. "You had to do your job. I should have-"

"No, don't blame yourself. This one's on me," Geraldine said defiantly. "I've acted like a selfish bitch recently and I should be punished for it. You're not cooking today, I'll handle dinner."

Phoebe literally looked as if she were about to hurl all over the floor. "T-That's quite alright Helga, you don't need to cook." Geraldine arched a confused eyebrow as Phoebe began to sputter. "W-Well, you're still on the clock right. You shouldn't waste your time cooking when you've still got work to do."

"But I want to repay you, at least let me take you out."

"Oh thank God," Phoebe sighed. "Er...I mean, why don't I just go get some Chinese? I've got to head across town anyway."

"Ugh fine," Geraldine pouted. "But _I'm_ paying," she handed Phoebe her credit card. "Go nuts on whatever you want."

"You know I'm not gonna do that," Phoebe gave her friend a smile. "Not only because I'm a good friend, but we're kinda broke and we don't need to be spending loads of money on takeout."

Geraldine returned the smile and unbuttoned her shirt, tossing it into the hamper with her other muddy clothes. "Oh, make sure to get me..." She trailed off when she noticed something was missing. She began to pat down her bra, then her pockets before running back the the hamper and checking her jacket.

"Helga?" Phoebe stared at her friend. "Helga, what's wrong?"

"Where is it? Where the hell is it?!" Geraldine hollered. "Shit! It can't be gone."

"What's gone?"

"My locket!" Geraldine began digging through her bag. "I can't find my damn locket!"

"You mean the one with the picture of you and Ar-"

"What other locket would I be talking about?!" Geraldine yelled. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Phoebe bit her lip as if she were holding back something to say. "Um..." she finally spoke. "Don't you still have more pictures of Ar...you-know-who? I mean they might not be as romantic, but they're still pictures."

"Doi," Helga gave up and slumped against the couch, a few tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "But that wasn't the only picture I had in there."

Phoebe's eyes widened slightly upon realization as Geraldine let her head fall into her hands. "Helga...don't tell me you kept a picture of..._her_."

"Of course I did!" Geraldine snapped at her friend. "I know you told me not to, but I couldn't help it. She's my only..."

Geraldine didn't finish her sentence and she fought hard to hold back a sob. "I'm so sorry Helga," Phoebe hugged her friend gently. "But maybe...maybe this is a good thing. You might be able to finally move on from her."

Geraldine shook her head at Phoebe. "No," she laughed a little and sniffed. "I'll never get over either of them. They were all I had you know, and I let them both go."

"You've still got me," Phoebe assured Geraldine. "You'll always have me."

"Yeah...I guess so," Geraldine wiped her tears away and turned to Phoebe. "You go get that food Pheebs, I really need a shower now."

Phoebe gave a nod and hugged Geraldine one more time before heading out the door, now finally alone Geraldine was finally able to bury her face into the couch pillows and let out those sobs she was holding back.

* * *

"Let's see," Gerald stood waiting in line at a Chinese restaurant that happened to be next to their hotel. "I could really go for some egg rolls, wonder if they're any good here?" He rolled his eyes at the person who was currently ordering, he hated it when people went into restaurants without knowing what they wanted. "This is why I don't come to places like this often."

He stuffed his hand into his pocket and stepped forward, however he stepped a little too far and accidentally bumped hard into the woman in front of him.

"Ow!" the woman groaned falling onto the ground and pulling Gerald with her.

"Oh I'm sorry Miss," Gerald apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"Gomen nasai," the woman below him apologized. "I should have...paid...attention..."

Gerald looked down at the woman currently pinned under him and almost let his jaw fall onto the floor. If the squeaky voice or the Japanese didn't give him enough hints, the sight of the woman currently under him sure did. It may have been years, and he may have tried to forget, but he'd never forget the dark hair that was now shoulder length, or the small petite body, or those small eyes hidden behind those immensely large glasses that she still hadn't changed.

"Phoebe..."

**A/N: Two lovers reunited...that's not Arnold and Helga. LOL, I gotta say, at first I didn't plan on making this story about Phoebe and Gerald as well, but I think it works fairly well. What do you think? The chapter was short though. Anyway, until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


	5. Sour reunion, sweet aftermath

**Chapter four: Sour reunion, sweet aftermath**

"Phoebe..." Gerald looked down at the small woman underneath him. "I can't believe this, you-"

"Hey! Get off the floor!" one of the people in line hollered.

"If you're gonna order, then do it now!"

The two adults blushed slightly, realizing how embarrassing their position was in a public place, and quickly got up. Gerald opened his mouth to speak again, but before anything came out, Phoebe was already rushing out of the store. _No, no, no, no, _Phoebe frantically thought, digging into her purse for keys. _This can't be happening. _

"Phoebe!"

The mere sound of him calling after her was making her heart start to thump faster, she had to get out of there quickly. "Hey, hey," Gerald finally caught up to her. "I...um...it's nice to see you."

"Same to you," Phoebe didn't dare look his way and finally found her keys. "If you'll excuse me, I must be going."

She climbed into her car but couldn't shut the door as Gerald had grabbed onto it. "Now hold on, you're just gonna leave?"

"Gerald I-"

"Please," he bent down and looked at her through the door. "I haven't seen you in eight years Phoebe, eight freaking years. That's a long damn time to go without seeing one of the people you've known for more than a decade, especially given our history." He gave her a hard look. "After the way you left, I think you at least owe that much to me."

The Asian woman sighed sadly and finally looked at him. "Do you have a car?"

"Limo," Gerald grinned. "But I walked here, my hotel is right around the corner."

Phoebe felt her heart begin to start up quickly again at the dashing smirk her former lover. "Okay," she resigned. "Half an hour is about all I can spare, my roommate will get a bit antsy if I don't come home soon." She flashed Gerald a warm smile that nearly knocked him off his feet.

_Still amazing, _he thought with a smirk.

* * *

"Well," Sherry started to button her shirt up. "That was a bit rougher than usual, sir. Try being a bit gentler next time."

"There won't be a next time," Arnold growled, who sat at the edge of the bed in nothing but black boxers.

"That's what you said last time," Sherry told him as she put her glasses back on. "And the time before that, and before that, and before that. You get my drift by now."

When Arnold didn't say anything, Sherry rolled her eyes. "How many times has it been, sir? I lost track at 23." She pulled her stockings on her legs. "It's not that I don't enjoy our time together, everyone needs a little stress relief. But you could at least make some acknowledgment toward me, I _am _still your secretary, not some sex toy."

"What do you want from me Sherry?"

"I want you to talk to me," the secretary told him sternly. "I was serious with my earlier proposition before you jumped me, which I'm not complaining about. You have been out on the edge, more so than normal, ever since you looked at that picture of your old girlfriend and that baby which I'll assume is yours."

"Tch, I'm not even a hundred percent sure it _is _mine." Her boss turned to look at her with his dull eyes, he always got dull eyes after they did this, as if he were feeling empty or, dare she say it, guilty. "Where's Gerald?"

"He went out to get food, sir," Sherry explained, narrowing her eyes in annoyance at him. "Should I contact him?"

"No, the meeting isn't for another few hours," Arnold climbed under the covers. "I do still have to meet with the senator though, wake me up at six."

The secretary sighed at her boss and stood up to leave the room, however before she made it out of the door she heard him say "Don't tell anyone about this."

Sherry felt her heart drop, something she felt every single time he said that to her, and sadly smiled in his direction "When have I ever?" She closed the door, a little harder than she meant to, leaving Arnold in his bed, alone.

Damn that feeling.

Even after having a beautiful woman like Sherry in his room comforting him just a few minutes ago, he still felt that lonely feeling. But now he was showering in guilt along with that feeling, and that's what always confused the hell out of him. Why should he feel guilty? Why should _he _feel fucking guilty about anything? He wasn't the one that fought when someone wanted to get close, he wasn't the one that argued for the sake of arguing, _he _wasn't the one that got pregnant and left the person they were in love with, as weird as that sounds.

"If anyone should feel guilty, it's that foul mouthed, uni-browed, overly violent, inconsiderate, hurtful, bitch," Arnold growled to himself. "And now she's so close, in the same fucking area code for the first time in eight years. She probably doesn't even give a damn what she's done, shacking up with some other damn guy raising _my _goddamn child."

As angry as he seemed, the mere thought of his last line didn't make him angry, well not more than it made him extremely depressed, which brought him back to the guilt he was feeling.

"I will find her," he growled to himself. "I'm not sure what will happen when I do, but I _will _find her, I have to."

* * *

Geraldine impatiently drummed her fingers at the kitchen table while staring at the wall. "Where the hell is Phoebe?" she demanded to herself. "I know she's across town, but she's usually quick." She looked at her cellphone, where she saw that she had apparently called her best friend a few times. "She's not answering her phone either, I hope she's alright." Geraldine sighed and propped her feet on the table, something she knew her roommate hated. "I'm starving here," she grumbled. "Plus I need the car to get to the hotel so I can get to work, that secret identity isn't going to uncover itself."

Unconsciously she dug her hands into her pockets, grabbing for her locket, only to realize that it wasn't there. Phoebe really needed to hurry back, without her or the locket, Helga really felt alone right now.

Damn that feeling.

It's been eight years, eight long years, and she still feels that horrible lonely feeling. And of course the raining guilt that crushed down on her shoulders, which she understood completely. How could she not feel guilty? How could _she _not feel fucking guilty about everything? She was the one who ruined everyone she cared about, she was the one that never wanted anyone to get close, she was the one that bullied and hurt the man she'd loved since she was a toddler, and she was the one who almost ruined the life of a ten-month-old little girl.

"I made it right though, I let them go," she said to herself. "I made them at least a little bit happier by taking myself out of their lives. I mean, it's a start right? For everything I put them through it's at least a start."

Everything she said seemed right to her, like she'd done what she was supposed to do. So why the hell did she still feel guilty about it then? She supposed to feel guilty for ruining their lives, not taking herself out of them. No, that was the good thing, it was the _right _thing to do. So she needs to stop feeling hurt every time she thought of them, because they sure as hell weren't thinking about her anymore. Moving on was impossible, she'd never have another man in her life, no one could ever compare to Arnold and she wanted nothing less not to mention still loving him as strongly as ever didn't help, and she'd _definitely_ never have another child. Hell, it was bad enough that Phoebe had stuck around. She'd have left her too had Phoebe not caught wind of her plan and demanded she leave with her, if anything to keep her head on straight. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Phoebe had made a giant mistake, she freaking left her great job and fiancee to live in a two-bedroom apartment, working ten hours a day in a dead end job just to get by. Not to mention Geraldine wasn't the best roommate in the world.

"Understatement of the year," she said putting her head into her folded arms, thinking back to Arnold. "I trust you are happy, my love. Married, great job, _kids_, I know you're living the life you deserve right now." She bit her lip as tears once again brimmed her eyes.

"And don't you worry your football shaped head," she buried her face into her arms. "Alice is happier than ever, especially without me."

* * *

"So..." Gerald began rubbing the back of his neck as he sat at the table, right across from Phoebe. After a dead silent car ride, Phoebe had asked him if he were still hungry, to which Gerald had realized that he was. She offered to take him back to the Chinese restaurant, but Gerald opted for a different setting, a pizza place. Since entering in though, the two hadn't said a single word to one another, in fact they couldn't even look at each other. "How...um...how have you been?"

"Good," Phoebe answered in a really quiet and shy voice. "You?"

"Can't complain," Gerald removed his hand from his neck and began twiddling his thumbs as silence overtook them again. The two inwardly cursed themselves, they had so much to talk about and they both knew it, but neither of them could muster up the courage to do it.

"Damn it," Gerald finally said something. "Look at me, I'm acting like such a coward right now."

"No, it's me," Phoebe also found her voice. "I'm really the only one who should be answering to you anyway."

The two finally locked eyes with one another, something they hadn't done in eight years, before Gerald gave her a serious look. "You don't have to answer anything if you don't want to," he said softly. "I just want to talk to you, about anything I don't care, just as long as I _can_ talk to you."

Phoebe's heart rate started to quicken again. "O-Okay," she nodded. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much," Gerald shrugged. "You already know I played college basketball, I kinda left after my sophomore season, I figured I was ready to go. I got drafted in the first round and everything."

"I saw it on TV," Phoebe smiled. "I think it was to the Bobcats, correct?"

"Yup," Gerald grinned at the memories. "Number six overall pick, I was so happy I started crying."

"Yeah, they showed that on TV also."

"Give me a break, I had achieved one of my life long dreams," Gerald rolled his eyes at her in good nature. "So I take it you kept following me, correct?"

Phoebe nodded. "I was happy for you when you succeed your dreams," she told him. "I actually caught myself bragging a little, telling people we used to date and all."

"I'm flattered," Gerald said. "And thankful, after all, you're the one who kept pushing me towards basketball during high school."

"Among other things," Phoebe reminded him. "Backup plans and all, I didn't want you to have nothing to fall back on."

"Yeah, well you turned out to be my lifesaver," Gerald told her. "After I ended up destroying my knee in my first game, the first thing I remembered were your advice. I don't think I could have ever gotten back on my feet without it."

The young Asian blushed at his show of gratitude and looked down at her hands. "After basketball screwed me over, I was lucky to get a job working for a major company, and here I am."

"Major company?" Phoebe arched an eyebrow. "You couldn't possibly mean-"

"Yup, you're looking at the Vice President of Future Tech Industries," Gerald flashed her a smile. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah, that's amazing," Phoebe said. "And a surprise, considering our history with Future Tech."

"Water under the bridge," Gerald told her. "Besides, there's a new boss."

"I heard," Phoebe nodded her head. "Hel-...er I mean my roommate is supposed to be doing a story on him."

"Yeah good luck with that," Gerald chuckled. "Our boss is one hell of a sneaky guy."

The two shared in some light chuckling before falling silent once more, only this time the atmosphere wasn't as awkward as before. It had more of a nostalgic feel between them.

"So, what about you?" Gerald asked. "What have you been doing lately?"

"Well, my story isn't as glamorous as yours," Phoebe told him. "But I ended up finishing college here, found a decent job at a hotel, and that's about it."

"What about this roommate? A boyfriend?"

Phoebe blushed slighty. "N-No, she's just a good friend," she told him. "She works at a newspaper company."

"I see."

"I...I'm not seeing anyone," she admitted. "My last relationship was about a year ago, it didn't end well." She gave him a hopeful look and asked "W-What about you?"

Gerald bit his lip, not wanting to say anything for some reason. So he just held up his hand, showing her the ring on his finger. "Married."

"O-Oh..."

"Yeah, for about six years." he explained. "I've also got a son, Gerald Jr. We just call him G.J."

Phoebe felt her entire world crumble at this, it's not like she expected him to still be available after eight years. But to hear that he's moved on, married, it tore the woman up inside. "Are you two ready to order yet?" a gruff voice was heard between them.

"Oh, of course," Gerald looked to her. "Pepperoni okay?"

"Vegetarian."

"Oh right," Gerald turned to the waiter. "Just a large cheese pizza please, and some breadsticks while you're at it."

"Pizza has crusts, why do ya want breadsticks with it?"

"Look dude, just get me the breadsticks," Gerald sighed. "The extra lip isn't needed."

The waiter rolled his eyes and walked off, leaving Phoebe there to giggle slightly at him for some reason. "And what's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said. "I just find it nice how you haven't changed."

"Neither have you," Gerald grinned. "You're still my little koibito."

Immediately after saying that, the two froze in silence. Phoebe had turned a bright shade of red at the nickname she hadn't heard in so long. "I-I'm sorry about that," Gerald stammered an apology. "I don't know what I was-"

"No no," Phoebe held her hands up. "It's fine."

"No, Phoebe I-"

"It's fine, Gerald," she told him quietly. "Old habits die hard, right?"

Gerald sighed and hung his head in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah, sure."

The awkwardness was back, and it felt more obvious than ever. Phoebe contemplated getting up and leaving, but she couldn't do that seeing as it wouldn't be right leaving Gerald here after she drove him. _Well, he does have a limo to call, _she thought.

"Phoebe," he spoke in a soft tone. "Please, I have to know. Why did you leave me?"

She gave him a pitiful look, she'd known this was about to come up, but she couldn't answer him. What was she supposed to say anyway? That she ran away with her best friend to make sure she didn't freaking kill herself? She couldn't say something like that, not to mention it would give Helga's whereabouts and she was dead sure that Gerald was still in touch with Arnold somehow.

"I...I can't Gerald," she spoke sadly. "I can't tell you."

"Did you stop loving me?" he asked her. "Is that why?"

That made her heart twinge, forcing her to finally look at him. "No, of course not," she said. "I really loved you Gerald, more than anything. I was completely ready to marry you, start a family with you, be with you forever."

"Then why didn't we?" he demanded. "That's always what I wanted! I thought we were perfect Phoebe! Was it something I did? Did I make you angry? Tell me, pl-"

Gerald stopped talking when Phoebe uncharacteristically grabbed him by the shirt and slammed her lips onto his. The moment they felt their lips touch, fireworks set off in both of their heads, fireworks that neither felt for years, heck they hadn't felt this way after a kiss since they were in high school. Phoebe suddenly found herself nearly lost in the passion, but the moment she came to grip with reality, she broke away from him.

"O-Oh god," she said. "Gerald I'm so sorry...I...I have to go." She quickly got up and nearly ran out of the restaurant and to her car, before she could get her keys, she felt a strong hand grab her wrist.

"Don't go," Gerald begged her. "Please don't leave me."

"Gerald, I..." she backed onto her car. "You're married...I can't...what I did wasn't right."

"Do you still love me?" he asked her in a husky voice, his face now inches from hers.

"Gerald, please..."

"Tell me," he ran a finger down her cheek. "Do you still-"

"Yes!" Phoebe yelled, sounding defeated. "Yes, I still love you Gerald! I've always loved you, I'll never _stop _loving you!" She was so close to crying, her vision began getting blurry. Gerald leaned close to her and spoke in the tone that always made her legs melt into jelly.

"Good, because I'm still yours. My koibito."

**A/N: Gerald committing adultery? What a jerk! What an ass! This guy is actually...wait a minute he's cheating on his bitch wife with Phoebe. Alright then :) Until next time.**

**Feedback is love.**

**P.S.- Koibito is Japanese for lover...so, yeah you can piece that one together.**


	6. Secrets Suck

**Chapter five: Secrets suck**

She just could not stop smiling. It was like she'd been infected with some silly happy disease, she'd seem normal for a few seconds, then all the sudden she would break out into a happy grin. And the giggles, oh god the giggles were the worse. Seriously, she was a grown woman, she shouldn't be giggling like a school girl with a crush.

_He's married you idiot, _she'd try to berate herself to no avail, the smile didn't go anywhere. _He's got a kid, you just kissed a married man who has a kid! _

"A married man that I'm still in love with," she tried to reason with her conscious."As if that made what I did right, what's wrong with me?"

She sighed and opened the door, knowing full well that she was about to get an earful from the starving woman, who was currently sprawled out on the couch dramatically. "Finally!" Geraldine groaned clutching her stomach. "Geez! I get it Pheebs, you're still mad at me. You didn't have to threaten to starve me to death to prove a point!"

"Sorry Helga," Phoebe apologized, shutting the door. "I...um, some things came up. Look, I brought pizza."

Geraldine narrowed her eyes at her friend suspiciously. "What _things _came up?" she asked hopping off the couch.

"Oh, you know," Phoebe tried to avoid the question. "Just _things_."

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

"...no?"

"Was that a question or a statement?"

"Umm," the timid woman tried to hide her blushing face. "Okay fine, I ran into an old college friend and I lost track of time. Will that answer suffice?"

Geraldine smirked and folded her arms. "Nope," she said with a gleam in her eyes. "You met someone didn't you?"

"H-Helga!"

"It's written all over your face!" she pointed an accusing finger at her. "You'd think after twenty years of knowing you I can't spot your signs by now?" Geraldine sat at the table, completely caught up in the conversation. "So, do I get a name?"

"Helga..."

"It isn't the same guy as last time is it?" Geraldine asked. "Because honestly, he was a real dick. What was his name again? Tyler? Trevor?"

"It was Tyreese," Phoebe corrected. "And it wasn't him, I never want to see that guy again."

"I still say you should have let me take his car," Geraldine grinned. "The things I could have done to that oh-so nice Chrysler of his."

"I think the black eye and broken nose were enough."

"Meh, whatever floats your boat," Geraldine propped her feet on the table. "So back to this mystery guy, can you at least tell me what he looks like?"

"No," Phoebe tapped Helga's feet. "And don't put your feet on the table."

Geraldine rolled her eyes and did as she was told. "Come on Pheebs, I'm apart of the media, I'm not gonna leave you alone until I get some details."

"Fine," Phoebe gave up. "He's tall."

"That's not good enough."

"Why are you so interested in my romantic life?"

"Aha, so it _is _like that," Geraldine grinned. "Now you _have _to tell me who he is, you've got me hooked."

"He's nobody," Phoebe sighed. "Just an old friend from college."

"He's black isn't he?" Geraldine shook her head. "What am I saying, of course he is."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that you have a thing for black guys."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Your last five boyfriends," Geraldine held up her hand and began counting. "There was Tyreese, Darrell, Michael, Quinton, oh not to mention that one guy you hooked up with at that New Years Eve party, I think his name was Andre. And of course we can't forget Gera-"

"Okay okay, I get it," Phoebe bit her lip. "Anyway, I'm not gonna see him again so let's just drop it."

"Why not? Did he try to force himself on you? Because if he did I'll-"

"No! It's nothing like that," she blushed slightly. "If anything, I was the one who forced myself on him..."

"Is that so? Good for you, taking the initiative," Geraldine gave a thumbs up. "So, if you were putting the moves on him, what's the problem here?"

"It's just," Phoebe pinched the bridge of her nose. "Certain things came up and I've decided that I can't see him anymore. I've already made the mistake of kissing him and nearly letting him take me back to his hotel."

"Oho, putting out on the first meeting," Geraldine folded her arms. "I thought I taught you better than that Pheebs."

"Helga! This isn't a joke!"

"Sorry. But seriously, you never let it get farther than hand holding on the first date. You must really like this guy if you were gonna do him that fast."

Phoebe fell silent nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, I really do," she sighed. "But it's never gonna happen, so I should just forget about it. I screwed up my chances with him a long time ago."

As she said this, a sudden vibrating sound cut the two women from their conversation. Geraldine acted fast and dashed for Phoebe's purse, snatching her phone from it before the smaller woman had a chance.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" she read with a smirk. "Sent from: Tasty Chocolate. Now ain't that 'sweet'?"

"I-I didn't write, he did," Phoebe whined, taking the phone from her friend. "You really shouldn't meddle through people's private affairs."

"Sorry," Geraldine said in an unapologetic manner. She stayed quiet while a fuming Phoebe reached for a slice of pizza. "So...just how 'tastey' is this chocolate?"

"Helga!"

* * *

"So...how long as he been like this?" Arnold looked at Sherry, who gave him a shrug.

"Since he came back," she answered him. "He hasn't stopped looking at his cellphone. I'm actually a bit worried."

Arnold looked at Gerald, who was currently sitting on the couch and staring down at his phone with a big smile on his face. Every so often his phone would vibrate, making the tall muscular man giggle like a little girl, this caused Arnold to eye him suspiciously.

"Sherry, why don't you go downstairs and make sure Benjamin is here with the limo." The young secretary nodded understandingly and left the two men in the hotel, once the door closed Arnold plopped down next to his friend and brought his hands together.

"Alright," he began in his business tone. "Who is she?"

"What?!" Gerald finally acknowledged something other than his cellphone. "Yo man, don't startle me like that. When did you get here?"

"I've been standing here for twenty minutes," Arnold smirked. "Now I'm asking again, who is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Gerald, you've been staring at your phone and texting for the last twenty minutes without noticing any of your surroundings," Arnold gave him a look. "Frankly I'm insulted that you think I don't know you well enough to see that you just met with someone."

"How do you know I'm not texting my wife?"

"Are you really gonna try to convince me that you were?"

"Well...no." Gerald sighed and stuffed his phone in his pocket. "Fine, but you'd better swear not to breath a word of this to Mariah."

"I'm hurt," Arnold gave him a mock offended look. "You'd actually think I'd sell out my best friend to his bitchy wife, who I don't even like? I may not be Arnold the Messiah anymore, but I'd like to think I still have some sort of ethics."

"I'm being serious, man."

Arnold put his hand on his chest. "You have my word, for whatever it's worth."

"Not a whole lot, when it concerns anyone other than myself."

"Just tell me."

Gerald nodded and took in a deep breath. "I did meet someone," he said cautiously. "An old friend of mine, from college. I saw her while trying to order some food, we ended up talking...well actually I kinda forced her to talk."

"Go on..." Arnold smirked.

"It's just...damn it, Arnold she just look so beautiful, she hasn't changed a bit. Once we got through the awkward reunion part, we got to reminiscing about the past and I told her I was married and then she kissed me, and I kissed her, then she told me she still loves me and-"

"You ended up doing it?"

"Damn close!" Gerald let himself flop back on the couch. "Arnold...I'm a married man."

"That doesn't seem to mean a whole lot to you."

"I'm not joking."

"Neither am I," Arnold ran a hand through his hair. "You and I both know that your 'marriage' is a regular ticking time bomb, this was bound to happen eventually."

"But I'm not that kind of guy!" Gerald protested. "I'm supposed to be the good guy, like you...were. I'm not some sort of 'player', you know how long I've tried to get rid of that rep. One day away from my wife and I'm already kissing another woman." He sank lower in the couch. "I'm a terrible husband, and a worse father."

Arnold shook his head at him. "Gerald, this doesn't suddenly make you a bad person," he spoke. "As I said, your marriage is pretty much non-existent right now. You said so yourself that you've been contemplating divorce, something you know that I support, if anything for your own sanity. Plus I really don't want to see you go down for choking a woman."

"Arnold, come on man, you know I'd never lay my hands on her."

"Everyone has limits, and believe me Mariah knows how to push anyone to theirs," Arnold placed a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder. "This may sound a bit wrong, but if there were any time for an affair, it was right now. Tell me, do you regret anything so far?"

Gerald bit his lip and let his head fall into his hands. "Not really, in terms of kissing her that is."

"This girl, is she worth it?"

"Yeah..."

"There you go," Arnold stood up and grabbed his coat. "Oh one more thing about the girl, exactly _who _is she? Because the way you talk about her, it seems you've known her for a long time."

Gerald looked away from Arnold and bit the inside of his cheek. "Just...and old friend."

"Do I know her?"

"Maybe."

Arnold chuckled slightly. "Fine, you don't have to tell me, even best friends have their secrets."

"Thanks man, you know there might still be some of that old Arnold left in you."

Arnold gave him a shrug. "Old habits die hard I guess. I'm heading down now, don't take too long up here."

Gerald nodded as his boss left the room leaving him all alone and sitting on the couch, he felt a frown begin to form on his face. Once again, he pulled out his phone, noticing that he'd just gotten a reply from his earlier message.

_Definitely on for tomorrow, we have a lot to talk about. _

He sighed and clenched his fist, going into his contacts and clicking on "My Lady". He put the phone to his ear and listened to it ring a few times before a slightly irritated voice asked "Yeah?".

"Mariah," Gerald gulped slightly, his hands clutching the necklace under his shirt. "Can we talk?"

* * *

"See ya Pheebs, I'll probably be back late," Geraldine called as she headed down the steps. "Don't have any strangers over."

"Shut up," Phoebe grumbled as she sat on the couch staring at her cellphone. "And don't be out too late, I have to work the morning shift tomorrow."

"I shouldn't be out longer than a few hours, these undercover missions tend to end quicker than you think," Geraldine checked her appearance in the mirror. "Whaddya think Pheebs? Do I pull the look off?"

"You look wonderful," Phoebe told her absentmindedly, still staring at her phone. "I'm sure all the guys would be impressed."

Geraldine looked at her best friend and gave an all-knowing smirk. "He's gonna call," she told her. "He'd be crazy to pass up a real catch like you."

"I know he'll call, if what just happened was any kind of indication he's definitely gonna call," Phoebe told her. "I just don't know what I'm gonna say to him."

"Well, maybe you could try to act like I used to," Geraldine struck a dramatic pose. "Oh my love, my flaxen haired angel, how wonderful it is for you to call me after not seeing you for so long. Take me into your arms and never let go."

"I don't think 'flaxen haired angel' works with anyone who isn't blonde, besides, I'm not as theatrical as you."

"Meh, you get the general idea."

Phoebe rolled her eyes in good nature at Helga's old description of Arnold. She suddenly felt her heart drop once she thought of him, she'd almost completely forgotten about Arnold. While it was unlikely, she was beginning to wonder if he were here as well. Maybe she should tell Helga about Gerald's affiliation with FTi, if anything to prepare her just in case she runs into him.

"Helga, there's something you should know about-"

The sound of Geraldine's ringtone cut off the smaller woman. "Ugh, it's probably my boss," Geraldine rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, her brow furrowed slightly when she saw the caller ID didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" She spoke in a hesitant voice.

"Helga?" The voice on the other line nearly made Geraldine drop the phone. "Are you there?"

It didn't take long for Geraldine to recognize the shaky soft voice."How did you get this number?" she hissed into the phone. "I thought I told you not to contact me anymore."

"I'm sorry, baby sister." the soft voice on the other line spoke. "But, I don't think I can do this anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you when I get there," the voice said. "When _we _get there."

The sudden mention of 'we' made Geraldine's face lose some color. "No! Damn it, no!" Geraldine tried her best to keep her voice from screaming. "You can't come here, go back to England right now! I don't wanna see your damn face!"

"I can't do that."

"Helga, what's going on?" Phoebe stood up and walked next to her friend who didn't answer her. "Who are you talking-"

"Why the fuck not, Olga?!" Helga finally let her screams out, ignoring Phoebe. "You were trusted to do _one _thing for me, do not fuck this up because your stupid 'good conscious' can't handle it!"

"It's not about that!" Olga was now raising her own voice. "I already told you that I wasn't going to lie forever, you knew that."

"Fuck," Helga groaned. "You can't do this to me right now, please Olga."

"I'm sorry," Olga apologized. "But the time has never been more right, this has to happen right now."

"Just what the fuck make the time 'right' for you to pull this crap on me?!"

Olga was silent on the other line for a few seconds. "Helga," she spoke in a cautious voice. "Arnold is in California."

**A/N: We are another step closer to the fateful reunion. And now Gerald is "talking" with his wife, wonder how that conversation's going. We've still got a long way to go folks. Until next time.**

**Feedback is love **


	7. Alice in Wonderland

**Chapter six: Alice in Wonderland**

The restaurant was beautiful, serene and obviously expensive. The chandeliers with dimmed lights matched the amazing decor that brought a sort of 19th century feel to it. Usually only privileged people entered restaurants like these, you not only needed a lot of money, but a reputation as well. So when eight people wearing expensive and fancy suits sat at one table, people couldn't help but stare and wonder who exactly they were.

"I knew it would have been better just doing this at the hotel," Gerald said. "People like these always want to meddle."

"Let them, those people don't matter." Arnold shrugged. "We have business to attend to, and I'd like to get this done quickly." He turned to the five men staring at him across the table. "So, gentleman, shall we?"

One of the men, a round pudgy guy with a nose similar to a pig's, cleared his throat before speaking. "Mr. Shortman, as you are aware those neighborhoods have been apart of the community for over a hundred years," he said. "Now we are all for change and expansion, but you must understand that some of us have a few reservations about your plans."

"Is there a real reason to completely demolish them?" a tall, thin man asked. "I mean, we know it's impossible to keep them all, but the sentimental value is-"

"This food is delicious," Arnold interrupted. "Sherry, we must come here again."

"Would you like me to put it on the planner sir?"

"Yes, sometime next week would be acceptable."

The board looked rather annoyed, and one of them cleared their throat once again. "Mr. Shortman, are you even listening?" he asked. "We're trying to have a serious discussion here."

"Gerald, did you forget to tell Munson not to drive off too far, this meeting won't take very long," Arnold said. "I don't want to have to wait a while for him to drive back down here."

"Yeah, he's actually still waiting out there now," Gerald looked rather worried at how quickly the board was becoming angry. "But shouldn't you be paying attention to them?"

"Right, of course," Arnold turned to face the men he was ignoring. "Now...what were we talking about?"

Finally one of them had enough, he slammed his hands on the table loudly, nearly knocking over their drinks. "Now listen here you brat!" he yelled. "You can't just waltz up in here and treat us this way! We've been doing business since you were shitting yourself and sucking your mother's tits! Don't underestimate us or what we can do to you, punk!"

The entire restaurant fell silent, now with even more eyes locked onto them. Arnold, looking unfazed, grabbed his alcoholic drink and downed the entire thing. He then wiped his mouth clean with his napkin, folded it, and stuck it into the pocket of his aggressor.

"Don't underestimate you, you say?" he asked quietly. "I think it's _you _who's underestimating _me._"

"Why you-"

"You see, I'm not a man of democracy, not anymore." Arnold glared at the men. "Anything I do is a dictatorship, and in case your halfwit brains couldn't process that, it means only I'm in charge. I'm the only person you ask when you want to do something, I'm the one that tells you or anyone else what to do. When I say jump, you all ask how high. When I say bend over, you spread your cheeks, like a good bitch does. The day you signed over that deed to me, and gave me control, you all decided that you will now answer to me and only me." He grabbed the man who just yelled at him by the collar. "Basically what I'm saying is, I'm gonna slide my dick down all of your throats, and you're all gonna thank me for it."

And with that, Arnold dug into his wallet, pulled out a few bills, and tossed them at the five board members. "There's my part of the bill, enjoy the rest of your meal gentleman," he got up, along with Gerald and Sherry, and headed toward the door, leaving the board stunned and humiliated.

"Arnold," Gerald groaned slapping his forehead. "Why did you have to do that?"

"They were getting too cocky," Arnold shrugged. "They needed to be reminded of their place. Dogs can't start believing they're above their master, they're just supposed to bow their heads and move along."

Gerald opened his mouth to say more, but knew his words wouldn't reach his stubborn friend, so he settled for letting out a long sigh. "Great," Arnold said, looking outside. "It's pouring down raining, hand me your umbrella Sherry."

"Sir, I just did my hair, I really don't want to get it we-"

Arnold took the umbrella from her and opened it, hurrying out of the restaurant and toward the limo. He was just about to open the door and get inside, when something caught his eye across the street. Standing there, right on the sidewalk, was a small little girl. She didn't look any older than nine or so, with blonde hair that went down to her back and was soaked wet. In fact, her entire body was soaked wet as she was wearing nothing but a pink dress, no coat and no umbrella.

"Munson, I'll be right back," Arnold said to the driver.

"Arnold, where are you going?!" Gerald called after him, but Arnold didn't answer. He was too busy staring at this little girl, who looked insanely familiar for some reason.

He finally reached the little girl, shielding her small body from the rain with his umbrella. Noticing that she was no longer being drenched by rain, she turned to look up at him, brushing her blonde hair out of her face and revealing her bright blue eyes.

"Hey there," Arnold spoke in a tone he hadn't used in years. He took another look at her and saw that she was holding onto a pink bow that looked even more familiar. He was really used that word a lot right now.

"W-Who are you?" The girl seemed a bit frightened. "I'll warn you right now, I've got a mean right hook."

"I'm Arnold," he told her, and he suddenly blurted out something that made this entire familiar situation come back to him. "I like your bow, because it's pink..."

_Like your pants. _

That last line hit Arnold right in the heart, he was going through some serious deja vu right now. The little girl gave him a confused look, and stared at him from head to toe.

"Are you coming onto me?" she asked bluntly.

"What? No! You're a little kid!" Arnold sputtered. "Do you even know what that means?"

"Of course I do, mostly," the little girl folded her arms. "It's just, kinda weird for an old man to walk up to a girl and talk about her clothes."

Arnold wanted to retort, but her logic was completely right, he might have been arrested had anyone else saw that interaction. "Whatever, why are you out here by yourself?" Arnold asked her. "Shouldn't you be with your parents?"

"I don't have parents," the little girl told him. "Well I do, I just don't know where they are."

_Now where have I heard that story from? _Arnold thought bitterly, but shook his head. "Okay, so who do you live with?"

"My aunt, she's really annoying though," the girl told him, rolling her eyes. "Eat your vegetables, brush your teeth, don't put your feet on the couch, no wrestling with your cousins, it's not lady-like to spit."

Arnold furrowed his brow and looked across the street where he heard a loud horn honking. "Look, I can't leave you out here by yourself, so why don't you come with me so we can find her together?"

The girl, who smartly looked a bit skeptical, didn't move from her spot. "I'm not supposed to trust strangers, that's why my school tells me."

"That's smart, but I promise I won't hurt you," Arnold told her. "Actually, I've got another woman with me, so you can just hang with her until we find your aunt."

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, the girl unfolded her arms and took Arnold's hand. "Okay," she said. "But if things get fishy, I'll knock you out with Striker." She held up her right fist intimidatingly, something that brought even more familiar confusion to Arnold.

"So, what's your name?" Arnold asked, as they walked across the street. "That is, assuming you have one."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him. "Very funny, yes I _do _have a name," she said. "It's Alice."

* * *

Geraldine didn't move, she didn't speak, heck she hardly even breathed. She just sat there, on the couch, with a wide-eyed expression she'd been sporting for about half an hour. Phoebe had given up trying to talk to her and just decided to wait until she was ready to talk. Meanwhile, Geraldine had thoughts flowing through her mind, questions were being asked, and of course her anger was rising. Finally, Geraldine let it all out with a loud angry scream that alerted the entire neighborhood.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

"Helga!" Phoebe was startled by her sudden scream. "Are you okay? What did Olga tell you?"

"She's coming here," Geraldine finally was able to speak normally. "She's coming _all _the way from England here to visit her 'baby sister'."

"Oh," Phoebe said quietly. "But that's not so bad, I mean, surely you don't hate her like you used to."

"That's not it!" And now her voice was rising again. "She's being a stupid little goody two shoes again! She can't do this anymore? Bullshit!"

"Helga!" Phoebe grabbed Geraldine by the shoulder and shook her. "You're not making any sense, talk to me!"

The blonde journalist took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making a tight fist then relaxing it. "Okay, I'm calming down," she spoke softly. "I just need to reassess the whole situation."

"There you go," Phoebe relaxed her grip. "Now tell me what the problem is."

"It's Olga," Geraldine sighed. "Like I said she's coming back from England."

"And why is that?"

"Because she's a stupid fucking saint!" Geraldine said through clenched teeth. "She's talking about how she 'can't do this anymore' and that she 'wasn't going to lie forever'."

Phoebe's eyes opened wider in surprise. "Does that mean she's bringing-"

"Yes! She's bringing Alice with her!" Geraldine was back to yelling. "She's bringing my seven-year-old daughter that I haven't seen since she was in diapers! Isn't that just fan-_fucking_-tastic?!"

The small Asian woman fell silent, unsure of what to say in this situation. She knew she had to be careful though, this was one of those things that her best friend rarely liked to talk about, and when she did she usually exploded over them.

"Well," Phoebe began in a soft voice. "Maybe she just wants you to see her, I mean, don't you want to see her?"

"No!" Geraldine yelled, then her face softened. "Yes...I don't know, Pheebs."

"You kept a picture of her in your most precious possession," Phoebe reminded her. "Doesn't that mean you miss her?"

"I guess it does, she's my little girl after all," Geraldine assured her. "And I wanted to keep her, you know that. I just couldn't, she wasn't happy here. You remember how often she'd cry every time I held her, or the looks she'd give me when I came home from work."

"It was all in your head, she loved you."

Geraldine shook her head. "No, she hated me. I could see it in her eyes, she wanted nothing to do with a worthless mother like me. And...oh God I haven't even told you the worst part yet." Geraldine held her head in her hands. "Olga told me...she said Arnold's here. In California."

Now it was Phoebe's turn to be alarmed, she hated it when she was right. This was definitely not the right time for this, Helga could only take so much emotional turmoil before she snapped. "O-Oh my," Phoebe had to play dumb, there was no way she was gonna spill about her escapade with Gerald now. "I think I understand your sister's plan."

"Doi, it's not that hard to figure out," Geraldine sighed. "She's just trying to set all three of us up, together. Like some big sappy family reunion, only this one is gonna end in disaster."

"Well who knows, maybe it will be a happy-"

The sound of their doorbell ringing cut off Phoebe and made Geraldine instantly scramble up. "Damn it, she can't be here already!" Geraldine quickly hid behind the couch. Phoebe rolled her eyes at her friend and got up to answer the door. "Don't let her in Pheebs, tell her I've...I've got some infectious disease!"

Phoebe paid no attention to her dramatic friend and just opened the door, she half expected to be met with a loving embrace or some over-dramatic happy hello...what she didn't expect was to see a rather tall blonde woman standing there soaked from head to toe with tears streaming down her make-up filled face. "O-Olga?"

"Oh good, you still live at the same address," her voice was shaky and unstable, and she was shaking like crazy. "I-Is my baby sister home?"

"She's um...sick?"

"Oh God!" Olga tightly embraced Phoebe, sobbing into her shoulder. "I can't find her anywhere! I just turned away from her, just for a second, and then she was g-gone!"

"What? Olga, what are you talking about?!"

"Little Alice," the woman sobbed. "She r-ran away! She's out here in this s-strange place, full of strange people. She's probably t-t-terrified!"

"What?!" Geraldine had suddenly came from her hiding place. "You lost her?! What kind of idiot are you?!"

"B-Baby sister?" Olga seemed slightly confused. "Your hair is di-"

"Never mind that! Where's Alice?!" Geraldine demanded. "How could you lose her?!"

"I don't know," Olga was getting more hysterical. "I told Eve to watch them-"

"Eve has the attention span of a gnat!" Geraldine stomped her foot. "She's like the least focused person on earth!"

"She's seventeen now, Helga."

"As if that's supposed to be reassuring," Geraldine rubbed her temples. "Damn it! You just got here and you've already pissed me off!"

"I'm sorry, I never meant-"

"I don't care about your apologies!" Geraldine reached over and grabbed her coat. "Come on, we're going to go look for her."

"I told her your address," Olga informed her younger sister. "She may come here first."

"Well, we're not gonna wait around, Pheebs you stay here just in case," Geraldine grabbed the car keys. "And keep an eye on those brats that spawned from my stupid sister."

"Got it," Phoebe nodded. "I'll call if she comes by."

Helga headed over to the car while Olga went up to the taxi to speak where three kids where sitting. "Eve, help your siblings with their luggage, Mommy's gonna look for Alice," Olga ordered her oldest child. "Until I come back, you listen to Aunt Phoebe, okay?"

Eve, the tall black haired teenage daughter of Olga, shrugged her shoulders while not looking up from her phone. "Whatever," she said. "I still think she's hiding in one of our suitcases like last time."

Olga sighed, not wanting to deal with anything, and walked over to the car that Geraldine already started. "You're a huge idiot, you know that?" Geraldine snarled. "First you decide to show up here, abruptly, then you lose one of your own damn kids."

"I'm sorry," Olga apologized again. "And she's not my child, Helga. I love her like my own, but she's not."

"Whatever, we're not talking about this now, let's just find her."

* * *

"Whoa, this is where you live?" Alice looked around at the large suite she was currently staying in. "You must be, like, rich or something."

"This? Psh, this is nothing," Gerald grinned. "You should see his house, like a freakin' castle."

"Well, some of us like to enjoy the grander things we can afford," Arnold smirked, turning to Alice. "Now, about finding your aunt-"

"You got any food?" she interrupted clutching her stomach. "I haven't eaten a thing since yesterday morning."

"Uh, well we've got leftover pizza," Arnold headed over to the fridge. "And some yahoo soda, will that be enough?"

"Meh, it's a start," Alice grabbed the pizza box and the soda, sitting down on the couch and turning on the TV. "Good, I thought I missed the match!"

As she stuffed herself with pizza and glued her eyes to the two muscle-bounded men grappling one another, Arnold and Gerald exchanged suspicious glances at one another. "Is it just me, or does she remind you of someone?" Gerald asked.

"Yes, she does," Arnold said glumly. "But I can't jump to conclusions like that, it could all be a coincidence."

"Yeah," Gerald nodded. "Let's focus on finding her guardian, we may get some answers once we do."

"Agreed, go find Sherry and we can start looking," Gerald nodded and headed out of the door as Arnold walked over to the couch and sat down. "So, Alice, where exactly are you from?"

"England," she said absentmindedly. "Well, my aunt says I was born in here in California, but I've lived out of the states for as long as I can remember."

"I see," Arnold took a good look at the bow she still held in her hand. "You need any help putting that bow on?"

"No," Alice seemed slightly annoyed. "I don't wear it, I just carry it around with me, it's not even mine."

"Then who's is it?" The little girl shot Arnold a glare, signaling that she didn't want to talk about that. Arnold nodded understandingly and brought his hands together. "Well we still need to start looking for your aunt, she must be worried about you."

"I doubt that," Alice snorted. "She's too worried about her own kids, she couldn't care less about me." She took a sip of the yahoo and wiped her mouth. "The only reason I'm here is because she wants me to meet some lady. Probably just trying to get rid of me, that's why I ran away."

Arnold did a quick double take. "Wait a minute, you ran away?"

"Yeah, so what?" Alice munched on her pizza slice. "It's not like this is the first time I did it, only this time I'm serious."

"Ugh," Arnold groaned, rubbing his temples. "You're one of those problem children."

"Hey! I'm 50% sure that was an insult," Alice snapped. "_I'm _not the problem, it's stupid Aunt Olga who's the problem, and my stupid cousins."

"Of course you'd think...wait a minute," Arnold gave her a hard gaze. "What did you say your Aunt's name was?"

"Olga, it's a stupid name if you ask me," Alice folded her arms, pouting. "Sounds like some singing fat lady out of a story book, although if you think about it..."

The CEO didn't pay any attention to the rest of her rant, he instead roughly grabbed her shoulders and brought her face close to his. "Hey now!" Alice hollered. "What do you think you're doing you-"

"Tell me," Arnold demanded, a little harsher than he intended. "Your last name..."

"What's the matter with-"

"What is your last name?!"

Alice, looking slightly frightened, felt her bottom lip begin to quiver in fear as she spoke in a soft, uneasy tone.

"Pataki...Alice Pataki."

**A/N: Man, it just tugs at my heartstrings when I make Arnold say jerky stuff like in this chapter. And wow, this thing took a while to write, then deleted, then rewrite, then review, then rewrite again. I gotta say though, I like the turnout, hope you all do too. Until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


	8. It's time

**Chapter seven: It's time**

Phoebe's head snapped left and right for what seems like the fifth time that morning. When she saw that the park was still dead empty, she sighed and looked down at her twiddling thumbs. She waited another ten seconds, then she looked around again, and again no one was there.

"Where is he?" she mumbled to herself, now grabbing for her phone. "He said 10 AM, it's already 10:15." She looked through her messages, in particular the one she had received last night at 3 AM.

_Central Park. 10 AM. Be there. _

She was slightly disappointed that he didn't call, but he was probably a busy man, after all he was VP of a major company. Phoebe still hadn't allowed that to sink in, the fact that he worked for FTi. She was proud of him, definitely proud, but it was still quite a shock that he decided to go into such a business. She knew what FTi was all about, and she knew they hadn't stopped destroying neighborhoods after their little encounter 20 years ago.

She wasn't as naïve as she was back then, it was business and not everyone was lucky enough to save their places for being torn down, she just figured a nice guy like Gerald wouldn't be apart of something like that. Then again, a lot can change in eight years.

"I guess I can just ask him about it."

"Ask me about what?"

The sound of his voice made her almost jump off the park bench, instead she let out a surprised yelp and whipped her head around to face him. "Sorry," he flashed her his perfect smile. "I forgot how paranoid you can be sometimes."

"I'm not paranoid," Phoebe argued. "I was just deep in thought, that's all."

"Mmhm," Gerald smirked, sitting next to her, he handed her a warm cup. "Coffee? I'm not sure if you still like it-"

"Black," Phoebe smiled, reaching for the cup. "Yeah, I still like it that way. Thanks."

She then silently sipped away at her coffee as they sat in comfortable silence. Gerald leaned back and crossed his legs, allowing his arm to rest along the bench. "So, we have a lot to talk about?" He said it as if he weren't sure.

"Yeah, we do." Phoebe confirmed.

"Like the fact that you still love me?"

A blush came across Phoebe's face, she honestly didn't expect him to immediately open with that. "I do still love you," she mumbled shyly. "But you're married."

"Yeah, for now," Gerald told her.

Phoebe finally turned to face him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that I most likely won't be married for long," the darkskinned man affirmed. "I talked to Mariah yesterday and-"

"Gerald!" Phoebe interrupted. "Why would you do that?!"

"I thought it over," Gerald sighed. "And I talked it out with...a good friend of mine. He agreed with me that my marriage was failing, even before I met up with you I was thinking about divorce." He took another sip of his coffee. "So I talked to Mariah yesterday, I just wanted to tell her what was going through my mind. I didn't say anything about divorce, or my deteriorating love for her, or even my meeting with you. I just wanted to talk about our problems, but she got angry anyway. She screamed at me, called me names, threatened me and...I finally had enough."

Gerald pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told her I wasn't coming back, that I was done." He sighed, it didn't come out as a sad or even frustrated sigh, it sounded as if he had just dropped a heavy load from his shoulders.

"Gerald..." Phoebe was stunned, she didn't think Gerald's marriage was bad or anything of the sort, she actually thought of him having the perfect life. Now she felt even worse than she already did about the situation. "God, I'm so horrible," she said. "Not only did I kiss a married man and break him up with his wife, but now I feel glad about the fact that you had a bad marriage." She covered her face with her hands. "What's wrong with me?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Phoebe," Gerald touched her shoulder. "I'm glad that my marriage sucked. I mean, I did really feel for Mariah, a long time ago. But things just changed, and I never stopped caring for you, not even for a second."

He tilted her chin up to that she was facing him. "You were always in my heart, and you always will be, whether you want to go forward with this or not." Phoebe locked eyes with him, seeing nothing but sincerity within his, and shoved her face into his chest.

"Gerald, how can you still feel this way about me?" she asked him. "I left you, without saying anything, two weeks before our wedding. Shouldn't you be angry?"

"I won't lie, I was," Gerald told her honestly. "I was also really confused and most importantly, hurt. It hurt because no matter how angry I was at you, I still loved you." He wrapped his arms around her small frame, pulling her closer to him.

Phoebe sighed in content and listened to the sound of his heart beat with hers. Should she really go through with this? Her feelings hadn't changed, that much was clear, and the same obviously could be said about him. But still, it felt a little wrong to her. No matter how you sliced it, her actions resulted in Gerald's divorce, making her a home wrecker. The question was, did she care?

"I'll think about it," Phoebe told him honestly. "At least until you're officially divorced, then we can see where it goes from there."

"Fair enough, I don't want to be seen as a-" Gerald was interrupted when his phone suddenly went off. He rolled his eyes and groaned "Yes?"

"Where are you?" It was Arnold, and he sounded super hungover.

"At Central Park with...a friend."

"Your little Mistress?"

"Don't call her that, it makes it seem bad." Gerald looked at Phoebe, who seemed rather confused.

"It kinda is," Arnold told him. "Anyway, I need you here fast. We should get to work as soon as possible."

"So we're really gonna track her down all around California?"

"If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."

"I don't," Gerald told him. "So, how's Alice been, since you freaked her out."

Phoebe quickly turned to look at Gerald. _Alice? _She thought. _Oh no, this is bad. Very, very bad. _"Gerald," she tugged on his shirt, forcing him to look at her. "Who's Alice?"

"This little girl we found yesterday," Gerald explained. "I think she ran away from her aunt." The look on Phoebe's face alarmed Gerald. "Are...you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." Phoebe began chewing on her lip, thinking over her choices.

She could either tell him everything and blow her best friend's eight year cover, or she can pretend nothing's going on and let her best friend continue to worry about the whereabouts of her daughter. Phoebe sighed, she knew what the right choice was. "Um...I need you to come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"To my house," Phoebe told him. "There's someone you need to talk to."

* * *

Geraldine lied on her bed as wide awake as she was fifteen hours ago. She never really got to sleep last night, she was far too angry and worried to do that. She probably would have still been out there looking for Alice if her stupid sister didn't start to get tired.

"What kind of idiot loses a kid?" Geraldine hissed to herself. "And this doesn't sound like the first time this has happened." She rolled over on her side. "I should have known Olga couldn't handle this, judging by how her own kids are turning out." She clutched sheets tightly, all of this misplaced anger wasn't getting her anywhere. Just when she thought she was home free, her sister just had to come and screw things up.

"What part of 'don't contact me anymore' didn't she understand?"

"I don't know," a voice tore her from her thoughts. "What part of 'this is only temporary' didn't you understand?"

Geraldine rolled her eyes at her older sister, who decided to just barge right into her room uninvited. "What do you want?"

"I thought you'd to get an early start looking for Alice," Olga told her. "Also, I never got to apologize last night. I was so hysterical that I was being counterproductive, sorry." Olga looked at her sister, who didn't make any movements, and remained silent.

After a few seconds, Geraldine finally mumbled "Aren't you gonna apologize for something else?"

The older sister sighed in frustration at the younger sister. "No," she told her defiantly. "I'm not apologizing for coming here with Alice."

"Tch, figures."

"Helga, it had to be done," Olga reasoned. "I told you that I would take care of her temporarily, at least until you got on your feet and were ready."

Geraldine finally looked at her sister, her eyes burning with anger and contempt. "Do I _look _ready to you?"

"About as ready as you'll ever be, in my opinion," Olga shrugged, walking closer to her and sitting at the edge of her bed. "She's already eight years old, and she'll be nine soon. I didn't want you to miss out on her whole life..."

"That was the plan!" Geraldine argued. "Remember? I was supposed to disappear and _you _were supposed to be her mother, you're the one who offered!"

"I did say I'd take care of her," Olga agreed. "But I also said that I wouldn't call her my daughter, because she isn't, she's yours. I said that I would cover for you, temporarily, but that eventually the time would come that _you _would have to take responsibility for your child. Now is that time Helga." Olga placed a hand on Geraldine's shoulder. "Eve is going into her senior year, Adam and Beth are already in high school-"

"So you just can't make time for Alice?" That came out almost as if she were offended.

"It's not that," Olga shook her head. "Helga, I'm almost 40 years old, I'm not going to raise anymore kids. Ever since my husband died, I've done this all alone. I've worked to pay the bills, done all the chores, sent them to the best private schools to keep all four of them out of trouble...I'm just tired Helga. My children are getting close to being adults, Alice isn't. She doesn't need some worn out old hag, she needs her mother." Olga then gave Geraldine a hard, stern look. "_And _her father."

Geraldine glared at Olga and shrugged off her hand. "Don't you dare-"

"Helga, what you're doing, what you've already done, is wrong," Olga interrupted. "Never mind the fact that you left the love of your life so abruptly, but Arnold at least deserves to know about his daughter."

"He doesn't need to know anything," the dark-haired woman tried remaining calm. "He's perfectly fine right now."

"How can you be sure?" the older Pataki countered. "You just up and left him, not even thinking about the affect that could have on him? There's no telling the emotional pain you might have caused him."

Geraldine looked away from Olga, and tried crawling back into her bed, but her older sister grabbed her by the shoulders. "Baby sister," Olga said gently. "It's time. You've put this off long enough, it's time you come out of hiding and tell Arnold the truth. I know you think it won't matter, and I can't guarantee things will go well, but at the end of the day, you dug yourself into this hole and _you _have to crawl out."

The younger female couldn't look her sister in the eye, she had to bite down on her lip to keep the guilty tears from streaming out. "Olga-"

The sound of the door opening interrupted the siblings. Geraldine gently broke away from Olga's grasp and walked out of her room to see that Phoebe had returned. "Hey Pheebs," she said solemnly. "Where have you been?"

"Out," Phoebe answered quickly, turning to look out the door then back at her roommate. "Helga, before anything else happens, I want to say I'm really really sorry."

"What are you-" "

I just had no choice!" Phoebe was speaking faster. "I didn't want to play dumb and having you worry, but I still feel bad about doing this because you've tried so hard to-"

"Phoebe! Calm down," Geraldine held up her hands. "What are you talking about?"

"Sorry it took me so long, my boss was getting on me about being late," Gerald had suddenly walked into the house. "Now, what was so urgent for you to bring me here?"

Geraldine stared at the man with a confused expression on her face for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes she realized that he became increasingly more familiar the longer she looked. Gerald, on the other hand, found himself not really recognizing her at all, that is until she spoke.

"Pheebs, who is this guy?"

The moment he heard her voice, he instantly realized just who he was looking at. She may have changed her hair, her eye color and gotten a little bit thinner in the waist, but there was no doubt who this woman was.

"Pataki?!" He almost screamed. "Helga freakin' Pataki?!"

As if on cue, Geraldine's eyes suddenly widened upon realization as she pointed a trembling finger at him. "Y-You...you can't be..."

"So I'm guessing you two have met?" Phoebe joked nervously, immediately shrinking when the two glared at her. "Sorry..."

* * *

Arnold ran a hand through his now wet hair and wrapped a towel around the lower half of his naked body. He groaned in pain once more, holding onto his throbbing head.

"Damn you Gerald," he growled to himself. "If you're trying to teach me a lesson, it's loud and clear."

Arnold stepped out of the steam filled bathroom and quickly headed into his room. He sighed as the pain subsided, and sat down on his bed, looking around at the discarded cans and bottles in his room. "How much did I drink last night?" he groaned to himself. "I feel like I did in college after Helga dragged me to one of those damn frat parties."

The mention of her name brought the anger he felt yesterday back in full force. A million things were going through his mind right now, most of them revolving around his daughter that he just met for the first time. Now that he thought about it, she was obviously her child. Their eyes were exactly the same, not to mention she almost mirrored Helga's personality, only being a tad less violent. As for her hair, well Arnold would have to say it was closer to his shade of blonde than Helga's. Her head was shaped normally, but Arnold didn't really expect his offspring to inherit his football head. He was sure that she was his, there was no doubt in his mind.

"Now where do I go from here?" he asked himself.

"Hopefully to put some clothes on first."

The sound of another voice in his room startled him slightly, he quickly looked around but found no one there. Then, he noticed that he was currently leaning on something for quite a while. He rolled over onto his side and saw that Alice was currently in his bed with his covers up to her chin. "It took you long enough to notice."

"Why are you here?" he asked her. "I thought I told you to sleep in Sherry's room."

"With that moron?" Alice snorted. "Have you ever shared a bed with her? She talks loudly in her sleep, takes all the covers, then kicks you out of the bed when you try to take them back. I have too many bruises on my ribs because of her kicks." She lifted her shirt slightly to show the red mark on her side. "Believe me, I have plenty more."

"You shouldn't sleep in the same bed with a strange man," Arnold told her seriously. "You don't even know who I am."

"Meh, you seem like an okay guy," Alice shrugged. "Besides, if you were gonna do something to me, you would have done it already."

"I don't know whether to be impressed or disturbed that you're only eight years old and you're talking this way," Arnold shook his head at her. "How long have you been in here?"

"I dunno, I came in the middle of the night," Alice folded her arms. "You're a lot easier to share a bed with, all you did was moan some ladies name in your sleep." Arnold raised both of his eyebrows at her in disbelief. "What? You don't believe me? I heard it myself. Helga why would you do that? Helga why did you go? Helga, oh Helga." The CEO shot a glare at the girl and picked her up by the shirt. "Hey!"

"Children should mind their own business," Arnold snapped, opening his door. "And don't sneak into my room anymore." And with that, he opened his door and tossed her out, slamming it back shut. "Annoying kid," he grumbled as his phone suddenly went off. "What now?" He snatched his phone off the counter, seeing that Gerald was calling.

"Where the hell are you?" Arnold demanded, answering the phone. "My hangover is getting worse by the-"

"Never mind that," Gerald interrupted. "You need to come here right now, as fast as you can."

"Why?"

"It's urgent, and bring Alice," There was the sound of someone yelling in the background. "Don't let her escape, tie her down if you have to! Arnold, I'll text you the address. Hurry!" And with that, the line went dead leaving Arnold confused and slightly frightened. "Okay..." he said opening his door. "Alice! Get ready, we're heading out!"

"Where are we going?"

Arnold's cellphone suddenly went off, signaling he got a text message, most likely from Gerald about the address. "I don't know," he responded to Alice. "But I think I might have an idea."

**A/N: Lame ending I know, but we're getting closer to the fateful meeting you all have been waiting for. Oh, and don't think that Gerald is done with his conquest, you think it's that easy to end a marriage? So, tell me what you all think. Until next time.**

**Feedback is love.**


	9. Can you out run fate?

**Chapter eight: Can you out run fate?**

"You can't hold me here! I have my rights!" Geraldine struggled against the ropes and the chair. "Wait until I break loose, every single last one of you is gonna have at least one black eye!" She continued screaming insults and threats but to no avail as the three adults she screamed at weren't paying her any attention.

"I see she still hasn't lost any of that Pataki flame," Gerald spoke, not sounding too happy.

"So, what now?" Olga asked. "We can't just keep her tied up all day."

"We won't," Gerald answered her. "I just called my friend, and she's on her way right now as we speak, with your lost little lamb."

"You mean Alice? You found her?!" Olga's eyes lit up as she grabbed Gerald by the shoulders and shook him. "Where was she?! Is she alright?! Did anyone-"

"Down girl," Gerald forced himself from her grip. "The girl is fine, she stayed the night with us, and didn't give us much trouble. I gotta say though, she's definitely Helga's child."

"You're telling me," Olga sighed putting a hand on her chest. "As long as she's safe though."

"Thank you Gerald," Phoebe told him. "If it weren't for you, we'd still be out there looking for her and worried about her."

"So that's your plan huh? You're keeping me tied up to force me to meet my kid?" Geraldine barked. "All I have to do is deny everything you say, play like a crazy woman. What kid in their right mind would believe someone like me is their mother?"

Gerald shot the angry woman a smug look. "Oh that's only _their _plan," he said. "_My _plan is much sweeter than that."

"Oh, and how is that, Mr. Goatee?" Gerald shrugged his shoulders and took a seat on the couch, crossing his legs.

"Remember how I said I called my friend?" he asked the three women, receiving simultaneous nods. "Well, funny story is, it's not just a friend. It's my long time _best _friend who might just have a few words for you, Pataki."

Gerald watched in amusement as the three women's faces went from confusion, to mulling, to realization, to shock and, in Geraldine's case, utter fear.

"Wait a minute," Phoebe shook her head. "Your mean you actually called-"

"Arnold? Yup," the darkskinned man smirked. "He's actually the one who found Alice in the first place."

"And he knows?" Olga asked to which Gerald shook his head.

"He's not a hundred percent sure," he explained. "But the guy isn't dumb, he's got his suspicions. He's almost certain she's his, assuming she really is..."

Olga noticed how skeptical Gerald looked as he trailed off his last sentence. "Hang on," she spoke up. "Just what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing," the VP held up his hands. "I'm just making sure this is all legit."

"It is," Olga snapped at him, folding her arms. "And I don't like what you're implying about my baby sister."

"Hey, I'm just saying, there's a _reason _she ran away. Maybe it's because she knows something about Alice that we don't."

"How dare-"

"Well that's enough of that," Phoebe stepped in front of the two. "How about we save all our emotional outbursts for when everyone's here?"

Olga shot another glare at Gerald, then darted her eyes over toward where her sister was...or should have been. Instead of an angry brunette bounded to a chair, there was only a pile of cut up rope and broken wood.

"Um, Phoebe?" Olga asked. "Who was supposed to be watching Helga?"

The Asian woman whirled around and, upon noticing Geraldine's escape, slapped a hand on her face. "Oh damn it," Phoebe groaned. "Why did I take my eyes off her?"

"How did she even do that?" Olga asked. "She didn't have anything to cut rope with, I checked her pockets."

"You'd be surprised at how resourceful Helga is when she's motivated enough," Phoebe sighed. "And Gerald provided her with plenty of motivation."

"Well she's not getting away that easily," Gerald growled. "She ran away from this once, it ain't gonna happen again."

* * *

"So, where are we going?" Alice asked brightly.

"Didn't I tell you that I don't know," Arnold answered her, he noticed that her mouth was full of the hamburger that he bought her. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

"You sound like my aunt," the girl told him, still chewing on the rest of her food. "Can I have some ice cream after this?"

"Geez kid," Arnold smirked. "You're so small yet you eat more than Harold does."

"Who's Harold? Some fat kid of yours?"

Arnold chuckled, and used this thumb to wipe the ketchup on the corner of her mouth. "I don't have kids," he informed her. "I think."

"You think? That makes no sense," Alice told him. "How can you 'think' you don't have kids? You either have them or you don't."

"It's complicated grown-up stuff," Arnold said. "Didn't you tell me you didn't know if you had parents?"

"No, I said I do have parents. I just don't know where they are," Alice corrected him, taking a final bite of her burger. "I asked Aunt Olga about them, but she just kept telling me they were really busy and they'd come back someday." She looked down at her left hand, which was still holding onto the pink bow.

"That bow," Arnold spoke up. "Did that happen to belong to your mother?"

Alice jolted up and looked at him, her brows furrowed and her eyes wide in surprise. "How did you know?"

Arnold sighed, not wanting to look at her in the eye. "I think..." he shook his head. "No, I'm sure I know."

"Know what?" she scooted closer to him in anticipation. "My mom? You know her?"

"I..." Arnold looked away from her, clenching his teeth and fists. "Uhh..."

"You _do_ know," Alice sounded hopeful. "Tell me. Tell me where my mom is. Tell me where my parents are!"

"I can't!" Arnold almost yelled. "Not yet, not until I'm a hundred percent sure." He covered his face with his hand. "I don't want to get your hopes up...or mine."

Alice's face fell, as she looked down at her feet in disappointment. The CEO sighed at the sight of the saddened girl, and finally turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," He apologized, extending his hand to her. "Let's get you some ice cream, then we'll go where we need to be."

Her saddened expression shifted into a rather cute pout. "I want triple scoops," she ordered, pursing her lips and folding her arms. "And an extra large cone."

"You want hot fudge as a topping too?"

Alice's face lit up. "Can I really?"

Arnold smiled at her and nodded his head as she took his hand and began leading him to the ice cream shop across the street. "Um, sir?" Arnold looked behind him to see Sherry standing there with his phone in her hand. "You have a call, it's Mr. Johanssen."

Arnold rolled his eyes and took the phone from Sherry, turning to Alice. "Why don't you go with Sherry to get your ice cream?"

Alice's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "But...I wanna go with you," she said softly, before blushing slightly and adding "Er...because that glasses lady is pretty lame and you're a lot more tolerable than her."

Arnold smirked and rubbed her head. "I'll be right behind you, I just have to answer this call. Here, why don't you get me something too and we'll eat ice cream together."

"Fine," Alice was pouting again. "Don't take too long though."

She then followed Sherry across the street while Arnold put the phone to his ear. "What is it Gerald?"

"Arnold, change of plans, don't come to the address I gave you," Gerald told him. "I want you to ride around the neighborhood for a while, hang out with the girl for a bit."

Arnold furrowed his brow in confusion and shook his head. "You mind telling when what's going on here?" he asked. "I'm more confused than I was when Rhonda kissed me at our high school prom."

"We'll let you know as soon as we find our runner," Gerald assured him. "But for now, it's best if you don't know anything for now."

"What are you..." Arnold trailed off and looked at his phone. "Bastard hung up on me, he's definitely getting a pay cut for that."

He shoved the phone into his pocket and made his way across the street to the ice cream shop, only to find both girls already walking out the door. "Hey, where's your ice cream?" Arnold smirked at the little girl.

Alice looked up at him innocently before darting her eyes back and forth and shrugging. "I dunno."

"Yeah right," Arnold took his hankerchief out of his pocket and started wiping off Alice's lips, much to her annoyance. "You've got evidence all over your face."

"Ugh, I'm eight years old," Alice pursed her lips. "Why are you treating me like I'm four?"

"Because you act like it," Arnold chuckled. "Don't worry about it though, I think you're adorable."

"Pfft, like I'm looking for the approval of an old man," Alice folded her arms. "I already _know _I'm adorable."

"And apparently a little conceited," Arnold finished wiping her face. "Hey wait a minute, I asked you to get two ice creams, where's mine?"

Alice gave him the same look she had a minute ago. "I...dunno."

* * *

She had to find a hiding place, somewhere, anywhere would do. As long as she doesn't run into those three idiots...or them. "I can't believe my best friend actually turned on me," she hissed at herself as she finally decided to rest in an alley. "I thought I was home free, eight years without any incident. Now in one day, everything's crashing down."

She groaned and looked around the alley, to make sure nothing suspicious was happening. "Okay, I'll just make my way to the office and hide out there until I come up with a better plan."

"So you can, like, buy anything you want?"

The sound of a new voice startled Geraldine, forcing her to instinctively hide behind a dumpster. She looked around to see where the voice had come from, but didn't see anyone in the alley with her. _I'm getting far too paranoid, _she thought to herself. _Now I'm just hearing things. _

"Well, I'm not sure about anything," another voice, but this one sounded like man.

_That voice, it can't be, _Geraldine poked her head from her hiding place, looking in the direction it came from. Outside the alley, across the street, where two people, a man and a child, both blondes. "It is," Geraldine whispered. "There's no mistaking it, I'd recognize that adorable football shaped head anywhere."

What kind of luck does she have? She ran away to get away from him, eight years later he just coincidentally visits the exact same part of California that she lived in, now she ran away from her own home to not face him and she ends up stuck in an alleyway with him standing right outside.

"I think this is fate's way of kicking me in the gut," she sighed, her eyes fixed on the two of them. Suddenly, her expression changed into one of utter bliss as she cracked a gigantic smile on her face. "My angel, how long it's been since you've graced me with your presence." Her gaze then came upon the chatty little girl next to him. It was obvious that was her little Alice, she looked exactly like her mother after all.

"Oh God, what am I doing?" Geraldine berated herself. "I'm going to get myself sucked in at this rate." Even as she said this, she couldn't look away from either of them. She wanted to go over there, just to get an up close look at them. She was certain Alice wouldn't recognize her, and maybe Arnold wouldn't either.

"No," she hissed. "I can't do that, I have to get away from them."

She slowly began backing away, until she felt herself back into something solid. "Oh, excuse me," she apologized trying to push past the person, only to have him step in her way. "Um...do you have a problem?"

Standing in front of her was a tall and rather thin man, if she were to make an assumption he looked like a homeless person, or more accurately a junkie. "Whatever you got, hand it over," he said, pulling out a small knife. Geraldine arched an eyebrow and snorted.

"Okay," she said calmly. "I'll give you ten seconds to just back away and we'll both forget this happened."

When it didn't look like he was going anywhere, she sighed and pounded a fist in her palm. "I guess Ol' Betsy is gonna have to come out of retirement."

"Umm, what about a stadium?"

"I can buy it."

"An NBA team?"

"I own every professional team in Dallas, including the Cowboys."

"A boat?"

"I have five of those."

"A jet?"

"Two."

"An island?"

"I don't have that, but I'm thinking of buying one."

"Geez, you _are _rich!" Alice giggled. "Can I come live with you?"

Arnold smiled at her, knowing that even though she was joking, she might be living with him soon enough. "Okay, enough fun, I'll call Sherry to bring the limo around."

"I've been meaning to ask, is she your wife?"

"No," Arnold chuckled. "I'm not married."

"Do you want to be?"

Arnold shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure, probably not."

"I'll be your wife," Alice joked. "If you can wait like 10 years...but you'll be even older and really smelly by then."

"Just how old do you think I am?"

"I dunno, like fifty?"

"I'm twenty-nine," Arnold rolled his eyes. "Do I look fifty to you?"

"You look as old as my aunt does, and she's almost forty."

"Then your aunt must look really y-" Arnold was interrupted when he heard a loud crashing sound and a painful scream. "What the hell?" He looked toward the alley to see a man frantically crawling away in fear.

"No more! I'm sorry, just no more!" The man hurried to his feet and ran out of the alley as fast as he could, seconds later a woman emerged from the alleyway holding up her shaking fist.

"You're lucky I went easy on you!" she hollered after him. "Next time, I'll bust out Ol' Betsy _and _the Five Avengers!"

"Whoa, a crazy lady yelling at someone," Alice giggled. "Reminds me so much of home."

Arnold, however, didn't find any of this funny. He was too busy staring intently at the screaming woman. Something about her voice drew him to her, he doesn't remember faces well but hers seemed highly familiar to him. And the way she shook her fist also made her seem familiar, what did she call them again?

"Ol' Betsy and the Five...Avengers."

Upon hearing himself say it, everything clicked. The unmistakable anger, the familiarity of her face, the naming of her fists, it all made sense.

"Helga Geraldine Pataki!"

Alice suddenly looked up at the angry man. "Wait a minute, Pataki?" Arnold didn't wait a second longer, and immediately started sprinting toward the frightened woman.

"Oh shit." Geraldine hissed.

She quickly turned on a heel and began sprinting away from him, while Alice, who was extremely confused at the moment, looked around for a few seconds before chasing after the both of them. Geraldine had never ran this fast in her entire life, and she prided herself on being a pretty fast runner, but even at her top speed Arnold was quickly gaining on her. Knowing he'd eventually catch her at this rate, she started throwing garbage cans and kicking boxes in his direction to slow him down.

"No you don't!" Arnold growled, leaping over the garbage can. "You're not getting away from me, damn you!"

Geraldine made her way toward the end of the alley, realizing there was a busy street ahead. "Damn," she cursed, seeing all zoom through the street. She bit her lip and looked behind her to see Arnold quickly gaining on her.

"Fuck it, I'm going for it."

She took in a breath and made her way through the street and in front of the cars that were barely stopping before hitting her. "Jesus Christ, is she crazy?!" Arnold said. When he saw that she successfully made her way to the other side without getting hit, he let out a frustrated growl and punched the walls of the alley. "She got away, again."

He then heard the sound of heavy breathing and looked behind him to see Alice, completely out of breath, jogging her way toward him.

"Wait...for...me," she breathed before collapsing onto the ground. "I gotta start exercising some more." She then looked up at Arnold. "Did you catch her?"

"No, that crazy girl almost got herself killed trying to get away from me," he sighed, picking the girl up in his arms. Suddenly, a white car pulled up in front of them and blew it's horn.

"Arnold! There you are man," Gerald poked his head out the window. "We were just chasing after-"

"Helga, I know, I just gave her a chase myself," Arnold told him. "Stubborn girl ran through a crowded street to get away from me."

"Which way did she go?"

"Through the alley on the other side," Arnold told him. "But there's no telling where she is now."

"That alley is a one way," Phoebe spoke up. "It leads to the bridge, she has to go there before she can escape into the suburbs."

"Phoebe? Is that you?"

"Hi Arnold, long time no see."

"Save the greetings for later, we have to catch up to that idiot, get in," Gerald ordered. "I'll call Olga and let her know where we're headed so she can meet us there."

* * *

Geraldine collapsed on a bench when she finally reached the bridge. That had been the most running she'd done in a long time, and she was still a little shaken up from almost being run over by cars.

"Alright, where to go from here?" she asked herself looking around. "The end of this bridge leads to the suburbs, I can think of a few places to hide when I get there. Then I'll just-"

The sound of a honking horn broke her from her thoughts. She looked up to see the car she and Phoebe owned pulling up at the edge of the bridge.

"Shit!" Geraldine quickly got up to run but stopped when another car, this one belonging to Olga, pulled up on the other side. "Nowhere to run, baby sister," Olga said stepping out of her car. "Now we can either go quietly, or with you kicking and screaming, the choice is yours."

"Either way is fine with us," Gerald spoke up, stepping from his car along with Phoebe, Arnold and Alice.

Geraldine frantically looked around for an escape route, but there's was nothing but cars and people blocking both exits and...the river. As she gazed down at the river, Arnold was the first to catch on to what she was thinking.

"No," he said taking a step forward. "Helga don't you even-"

It was too late, as the brunette had already climbed over and jumped off the bridge right into the flowing river. "Damn you Helga!" Arnold growled taking off his jacket. "Get back here!" The CEO quickly followed suit and jumped off the bridge and into the water along with her.

"Just get the hell away from me!" Geraldine yelled, swimming away from him. "I don't want to see you!"

"Well that's too bad!" Arnold hollered back. "Because I'm not going anywhere until I have a few words with you, preferable _not _while chasing after you."

Geraldine continued to swim away, feeling herself get further and further, she looked back to where Arnold was and noticed that he was beginning to struggle.

"Arnold?" she gasped when she saw him sink down into the water. "Arnold!" Quickly, she dove underwater after him, swimming against the current, and pulled him back up to the surface. She then dragged herself and him onto the nearest patch of land, lying him on his back.

"Oh Arnold, oh my love please be okay," she whispered frantically. She began pushing her palms on his chest as hard as she could, performing the CPR method, when it didn't work, she leaned in close and brushed her lips against his. It was then she suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her body and pull it close to his own, Geraldine looked at Arnold and saw him wearing a smug smirk on his face.

"Gotcha," he grinned, flipping her over so that he was now pinning her down. "I finally gotcha."

**A/N: Finally! The reunion is here! After a long wait (and a long updating process, sorry about that) Arnold and Helga finally meet again. Only question is, what's gonna happen next? Until next time.**

**Feedback is love **


	10. After effect

**Chapter nine: After effect**

Alice was feeling it, the tension that is.

After Arnold had chased down that crazy lady everyone was calling Helga, and after her overemotional aunt started crying and hugging Alice, the eight-year-old was now currently sitting in the back of her aunt's car right next to Helga, while Arnold had gone with Gerald and Phoebe back to their hotel for a change of clothes.

They mostly drove in silence, which obviously making everyone in the car uncomfortable, namely Alice. What was also weird was that Helga woman, who wouldn't stop staring at her during the entire car ride. Alice wasn't completely oblivious, every now and then she caught Helga's glances, and whenever she tried to look back at her, she would immediately turn the other way.

_Weirdo, _Alice thought to herself, shaking her head.

"Young lady, I'm talking to you," her aunt's voice broke the little girl out of her thoughts. "Are you listening?"

"Huh?" Had her aunt really been talking this whole time? "Uh..."

"I'm talking about you running away," Olga said. "What were you thinking? Do you understand how worried I was about you?"

Alice rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Mostly because she didn't really have anything to say to defend herself or her actions.

"Well, it's a good thing you were found by some nice people," Olga sighed. "You have no idea how lucky you were to come across them, you could have just as easily been abducted, or worse."

"Well I wasn't, so everything's fine," Alice grumbled, looking out the window. "Are we going back to England now?"

"I brought you here for a reason," As she stopped at a red slight, she turned to look at Alice. "Do you _want _to go back to England right now?"

"No," Alice shook her head. "I'm fine with staying, just not with you."

Olga rolled her eyes and just gave up, not wanting to start an argument with her niece. The car remained silent for the rest of the ride, until they pulled up at their destination. "Where are we?" Alice piped up.

"My place," Helga finally spoke, moving her wet hair out of her eyes so she could glare at Olga. "Wanna tell me why?"

"Well, aside from the fact that my children are here," Olga began. "I believe this is the best place for you three to start sorting out your issues."

Helga rolled her eyes and dramatically climbed out of the car. "And just where the hell do you think you're going?" she demanded, noticing that her older sister wasn't making any move to get out of her car.

"I've got to get me and the kids settled in our hotel." She then turned to Alice. "Since you don't want to stay with me, do you mind staying here with your mo...er I mean, Helga?" The brunette shot Olga a warning glare as Alice made an obnoxious sighing noise.

"Sticking me with the crazy lady," she groaned, getting out of the car just as dramatically as Helga had. "Just remember, if I turn up missing it's _your _fault."

Olga nodded absentmindedly while honking on the horn, calling for her kids. Almost immediately, they emerged from the home with their belongings and piled into the car. Before as she was pulling off, another car turned the corner and began to park in front of their home. Olga quickly turned to look at her sister, concern filling her eyes.

"Please," she said. "Do the right thing." Helga just rubbed her arm and looked at her feet, giving Olga a slight nod. "Thank you, I won't be gone long. Be good Alice."

"Whatever," Alice stuck her tongue out as her aunt drove out of the driveway. "Ugh she's so annoying."

"Kiddo, you don't know the half of it." Helga folded her arms, heading toward her house as fast as she could.

"Where's she off to in a hurry?" Alice spoke as Arnold appeared next to her. "She really wants to get away from you, why is that?"

"Wouldn't I like to know," Arnold frowned. "Did she say anything to you?"

"No," Alice shook her head. "But I did catch her constantly staring at me, it was strange." She then looked over at Arnold with a strange look in her eye. "Hey, what's going on? Why were you chasing after her? Why did she run?"

"Hopefully we'll _both _find out soon enough," Arnold's scowl didn't go away. "When she answers for all the crap she's pulled, on us."

And with that, he stormed right into the house, leaving Alice even more confused. "Oh...kay, that didn't make me any less confused," Alice rolled her eyes looking back to the car where Gerald and Phoebe were. "Are either of you going to tell me what's going on?" Both gave one another strange looks, then turned back to Alice, shaking their heads.

"Guess I'm going to have to get all the answers myself," she sighed, following Arnold's trail into the home.

"Helga!" Arnold was hollering throughout the house. "Helga, get your ass down here right now!"

"I'm changing out of my wet clothes!" Came a equally loud reply from upstairs. "Keep your pants on Football Head!"

"You better not be sneaking out of the window!"

"Why would I do that?!"

"Because you already jumped off bridge to get away from me!"

Alice stood there, listening to the two of them yell at each other back and forth. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but each time she was interrupted by one of them. Eventually, she found herself fed up and decided to let out a loud, ear-splitting, scream of her own. Both adults instantly stopped their yelling, Helga coming out of her room in nothing but sweatpants and t-shirt, while Alice's scream subsided and she stomped her foot on the ground.

"You two are pissing me off!" she yelled. "First you have this wild chase scene through the city, then you both jump into a freaking river, now you're screaming at each other. I'm sick and tired of it! What the heck is going on?!"

Arnold and Helga suddenly went silent, both of them looking away from the angry little girl in embarrassment. "Look," Arnold groaned, running a hand through his hair. "This isn't going to work. I'm angry, Helga's being...Helga, and Alice is confused." He plopped down on the couch. "Let's just all calm down and talk, like adults."

"Hmph, always gotta be the diplomat, don't you Arnoldo?"

"Don't push me you little..." Arnold clenched his fist and took in a deep breath. "Okay, how about we _don't _talk and just sit here and glare at each other?"

"Fine by me."

"Whatever."

* * *

Outside the house, Gerald and Phoebe were trying their best to ignore the loud screaming that had come from the house. They both knew when to get involved with their best friends' problems and when to stay the hell away from their problems, this was one of those stay the hell away ones.

"The screaming stopped," Phoebe offered. "Maybe they've calmed down?"

"Or killed each other." Phoebe smacked Gerald gently in the arm and rolled her eyes.

"What are we supposed to do?" she groaned.

"We've done just about everything we could," Gerald leaned against the car. "They're adults, and they'll have to fix their shit on their own."

"Yeah," Phoebe sighed, turning to Gerald. "You understand why I left now, don't you? Helga is quite unstable."

"I can see that," the VP spoke. "You could have at least told me, you know."

"No, because you would have told Arnold," Phoebe poked him in the chest.

"I wouldn't have-"

"Are you _really _going to try to lie to me?"

Gerald opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. "Fine," he folded his arms. "Eight years is a lot of time lost though."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Phoebe told him sincerely. "I really mean it Gerald, it was the hardest thing I ever did when I left you. But, I couldn't let Helga do this alone. Can you imagine what she might have done to herself if I weren't around?"

"It's not your job to be her babysitter."

"But it _is _my job to be her best friend, wouldn't you have done the same for Arnold?" Gerald shrugged his shoulders and looked away from her. "Look, Helga is like a sister to me, just like Arnold is a like brother to you. You have to look out for your family, always, even if it means making some sacrifices."

The darkskinned man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I get it," he said. "I don't agree with you, but I get it." He snaked his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry I'm acting like a prick, I just really missed you."

"I missed you too," Phoebe told him. "But I'm still remaining firm on what I said earlier, you're not divorced yet."

"Maybe not officially," he stole a quick peck on her lips. "I am divorced in spirit though."

"That makes no sense," Phoebe giggled. "And your lines are not going to work on me, I know all of your tricks."

"I've developed new ones, wanna see them?" he pulled the petite girl closer to him.

"Gerald, please," Phoebe was blushing now. "I'm serious about what I said."

"So am I," Gerald told her. "We're not doing anything too-"

He was suddenly cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, rolling his eyes he dug into his pocket to see who decided to interrupt him. Upon seeing the name his face fell and he let out a long sigh.

"Gerald?" Phoebe gave an understanding look. "It's _her _isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Gerald shook his head. "I don't have to answer it if-"

"No, it's fine," Phoebe broke herself from his grasp. "You're still married after all..."

Gerald reached for her again, but froze when he felt the phone go off once more. "Damn it all," he growled, putting the phone to his ear. "What do you want Mariah?"

"Dad?" Gerald stiffened upon hearing his son's voice.

"G.J.? What are you doing on this phone?"

"I wanted to talk to you," G.J. told him. "And I kinda forgot your number."

"Where's your mom?"

"She's...uh...around."

"Meaning?"

"Uhm..." He suddenly heard some whispering in the background followed by a loud honking sound. "She's out grocery shopping."

Gerald rolled his eyes. _Only Mariah would do something as stupid as this,_ he thought. "G.J.," he spoke gently. "Did your mom _tell_ you to call me?" When he heard a nothing on the other line, he got his answer. "G.J., did she-"

"Mom did tell me to call you," G.J. admitted. "She said that if I did, you would come back home."

"What?"

"Mom said you weren't coming back," he said. "She said you were leaving us, even though you promised you wouldn't."

"N-No..." Gerald cursed under his breath. "I'm not leaving _you_, son."

"But you're leaving Mom?"

"I..." Gerald shook his head. "Put your mother on the phone."

"Dad...I..."

"Put her on the phone, right now." There was another lengthy pause.

"What is it, Gerald?"

"What the hell kind of bullshit are you trying to pull here?" Gerald hissed into the phone.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, I just wanted you to hear your son's voice one more time before you walk out on us."

"You _know _that's not what I'm doing," Gerald rubbed his forehead. "We already discussed this, Mariah. It's not gonna work between us anymore, we have to just let it go. It's better this way for us and our son."

"No, it's better for you!" Gerald winced at her sudden outburst. "You know marriage ain't supposed to be easy!"

"It also isn't supposed to be _this _hard," Gerald's own voice was raising. "Damn it, you're not about to get me into another shouting match with you. I'm through with it Mariah!"

Mariah was quiet on the other line for a few seconds, Gerald was about to hang up the phone when he heard her speak again. "What is it Gerald? Tell me what's _really _brought this one." she spoke in a lower, harsher tone. "You didn't just all the sudden have some sort of epiphany about this." She paused for a moment. "There's another woman, isn't there?"

"That's none of your business."

"Tell me the truth Gerald, have you been screwing another woman behind my back?"

"Lower your damn voice, G.J. is in the car with you!"

"Oh don't worry about that, I _want _him to hear just how much of a cheating bastard his daddy is!"

Gerald opened his mouth to yell more, but he noticed Phoebe uncomfortably standing there with a worried look on her face. Quickly, he took a deep breath and exhaled, as a means to calm himself down. "You know what?" he said in an even tone. "I don't care anymore. Yeah, I _am _fucking Phoebe! As a matter of fact I'm probably gonna fuck her right now! Are you happy now Mariah?" Phoebe opened her mouth to interject, but thought it best that she wasn't heard by the angry woman on the phone.

"Phoebe? Who the fuck is Phoebe?!"

"She's the woman I've been in love with since I was a kid," Gerald told her. "The one who I haven't stopped thinking about for a second, she's the woman I deserve!"

"You bastard!" Gerald felt a slight pain in his chest when he heard Mariah's voice break. "You don't 'deserve' a goddamn thing! This isn't over Gerald! I'm not gonna let you end it like this!" The next thing you know, he could hear her sobbing on the other line, which made his chest hurt even more. Contrary to his actions, he did care for Mariah. But this was the problem, she somehow brought out this side of him that he hated. Even so, he couldn't stand to hear her crying.

"Listen," Gerald began apologetically. "Tell my son that I'm sorry, and that I love him, but I can't be with you anymore Mariah."

"So that's it huh?" Mariah was still sobbing. "After six years of marriage, you're just giving up? Fuck that..."

"I gave up long before that," Gerald told her. "I'm sorry."

Before Mariah could say another word, he hung up the phone and chucked it across the street as far as he could. "Well, that's the end of that," he clapped his hands together and opened the door to the car, turning to Phoebe. "So, would you call _that_ an 'official' divorce?"

"Gerald I...I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was going to happen," he seemed surprisingly chipper. "I figured it would end this way, me looking like the asshole once again."

"It's not your fault," Phoebe told him.

"Yeah, well I still feel shitty right now," he then climbed into the car. "Hey I've got an idea, let's go somewhere, just the two of us."

"Gerald..." Phoebe was about to protest but suddenly trailed off and let out a defeated sigh. "Oh, why the hell not? Fine, you win."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Gerald grinned. "Oh by the way, sorry about what I said earlier, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," Phoebe held up her hands. "I understand you didn't mean it like that, you were just angry."

"Oh no," Gerald gave her a stern look. "I _meant _it, I meant every word of it. I just wanted to apologize for blurting out your name, that was dumb of me."

Phoebe felt a blush start to creep up on her face. "So wait, you're telling me you intend on-"

"Yup," Gerald smirked. "That is if you're willing to, of course."

The petite woman looked around slightly. "Um...should we really leave them alone?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the house.

"Look, I don't know about you, but I'm about sick and tired of worrying too much about those two and not enough about us," Gerald said. "We've done that for way too long, since we were kids actually. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but right now I want to focus more on my own damn love life. I just got divorced from my bitchy wife because I'm still in love with my childhood sweetheart, and I'm fucking ready to celebrate! What about you?"

Phoebe looked at Gerald, slightly shocked and is seemingly ecstatic demeanor, then glanced back at the direction of the house. If she were going to be being honest with herself today, then she had to admit to herself that she felt mostly the same as Gerald did right now.

She was still dead worried about Helga, Arnold and Alice, but it was about time she let those two figure things out on their own. Besides, she just technically got back together with the love of her life, and she wasn't _totally_ against what he wanted to do with her.

"You're right," she said, getting into the car with them. "I'm with you a hundred percent. They have to figure this out on their own."

"And if they don't by the time we get back, then we'll just kick their asses until they do!" Gerald laughed while putting an arm around Phoebe. "Now let's see how much of eight years we can make up in a day."

* * *

The room was still silent, it had been that way for the past hour and a half, three sets of eyes all glaring at one another simultaneously.

Arnold hadn't even budged, he just sat there in the chair, glaring at the woman across from him as if he were trying to mentally set her on fire.

Helga matched his glare, but on the inside she was freaking out. The man she had loved since preschool looked as if he were about to murder her, while her daughter that she hadn't seen since she was in diapers looked as if she wanted to slap the both of them.

Alice, well she was mostly angry because these two idiots _still _hadn't told her what in the world was going on. And if there was one thing Alice Penelope Pataki didn't like, it was being kept in the dark about something that was obviously a big deal.

"So," Arnold finally broke the silence, though his word almost went unnoticed. "I see that you did a lot to change your appearance."

"Yeah well, I felt it was time for a change ya know?" Helga shrugged nonchalantly.

"You got rid of the uni-brow."

"It got annoying after a while."

Arnold almost looked as if he took offense to that as he folded his arms and grumbled "Whatever."

Alice turned to Helga with a questioning look on her face. "You had one too?" she asked. "So I wasn't the only one..."

"It's not that uncommon, kiddo," Helga relaxed in her chair. "I had it for a long time though, I kinda miss it."

"I used to have one," Alice touched the space in between her eyebrows. "But Aunt Olga made me get rid of it after first grade."

"Why's that?"

"Because it was causing too much trouble for me in school."

Arnold arched an eyebrow. "What? Were you being teased about it by the other kids?"

"Eh, not really," Alice shook her head. "I kept getting suspended because I was beating up the kids who _did _make fun of it."

Arnold chuckled and shook his head. "I was right, you _are _a problem child."

"Yeah well, I'm not as bad as you two," she gestured at Helga and Arnold. "Seriously, who chases a lady all throughout town? And who's crazy enough to jump into a river to get away from someone?"

Arnold's face went sour once again as he started glaring at Helga again. "Why don't you let Helga explain that to you?" he spat.

Helga, instead of matching his glare, looked away from him in shame. "Arnold, please-"

"Do you have anything to drink?" the CEO interrupted.

"Um," Helga was slightly taken aback by his sudden request. "I think we have some juice somewhere in there."

"No, I meant a real drink," Arnold said. "Something that might make me less angry and more likely to listen to your crap."

All the sudden Helga frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, if you're gonna be an asshole about it, then we _don't _have anything to drink."

"Sucks for you then," Arnold shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to tell me your bullshit later when I find some alcohol."

"Listen here, Football Head-"

A ringing sound interrupted her, prompting Helga to dig into her pocket and look at her phone. "Sorry, gotta take this," she shot at him, standing up from her chair and going up the stairs.

"Don't lose that attitude while you're on the phone," Arnold called after her. "I want to see just how much of a 'bad-ass' you think you can be today before I lay into you."

He heard Helga say something, probably a curse word, but couldn't make it out as she slammed the door to her room. "Bitch," Arnold growled before noticing Alice sitting there with wide eyes and a big smile. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be, I like it when adults curse at each other." the little girl bounced. "So tell me, before the crazy lady comes back, what's the story here?"

Arnold sighed, not looking in her direction. In the past few hours, he'd nearly forgotten all about how Alice was most likely his child. Seeing Helga again brought up so many emotions that the last few days were all a blank to him right now. Just how the hell was he planning to break the news to her? Should he just tell her right now? What harm could it do, it's not like she's going to be angry that he's her father...will she?

_I know one thing, _he thought to himself. _Helga damn sure isn't going to say a thing, she's going to pretend it's nothing until I bring it up. _

Arnold scowled again and shook his head, this wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to take this whole process step by step. The first step was to catch Helga, and now that he's done that he needs to move on to the next step, which he himself wasn't sure what that was. He wanted it to be grilling Helga on what she did and giving her hell for it, but he knew that it wasn't as important as letting Alice know the truth.

"Hey Arnold," Alice's voice broke him from his thoughts. "What is it?"

"If it's alright with you," she began softly. "Can...can we talk about my parents again?"

Arnold furrowed his brow in confusion, where did that come from all the sudden? "Um...okay."

"You said that you know my mom," Alice continued. "But you didn't want to tell me until you were sure. Have got gotten any surer?"

"I said that I didn't want to get your hopes up."

"You also said you didn't want to get _your _hopes up either." Arnold gave her a strange look, he hadn't expected that she'd heard that last part. "I'm not stupid you know," the girl stared at him hard. "I may be only eight, but I'm smarter than people think. You know something, but you won't tell me, why is that?"

Arnold stared at her pleading eyes, feeling them tear through his heart painfully, and sighed. "It's not my place to tell you," he started. "Well, actually it kinda is, but...look, it's complicated."

Alice huffed, then quickly stood up and stomped in front of Arnold. "Alright," she sounded as if she had come to some sort of decision. "I'm going to ask you something, something very serious. Will you promise not to lie to me?"

"Um..."

"I want you to tell me the truth," she said. "I think I at least deserve to know this much. So will you be honest?"

The CEO slowly nodded his head as Alice moved in closer to him. "I've been wondering about this for a bit, since we met actually," she began. "I felt strange around you, like this connection or something. Every time I looked at you, I felt close and attached to you. At first I thought it was a little weird of me at first, but then I got this crazy idea in my head about you and more I thought about it, the more it kinda made sense."

She looked directly into his eyes. "What I wanted to ask you is...are you..." she bit her lip for a second. "Are you my papa?"

Arnold immediately stiffened at her question, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping in complete shock. He stared at the girl, who was blushing madly despite the determined look on her face. He also noticed she was trembling slightly and her lip was quivering, and looking into her bright blue eyes, he saw a flash of confusion, frustration and hopefulness.

"Um..." Arnold shifted slightly. "Alice, what-"

The sound of something dropping to the floor cut him off, forcing the two to look toward where the sound came from. Standing about halfway down the stairs was Helga, looking both shocked and angry at the same time.

"You told her?"

**A/N: Well, this seems like a good place to end the chapter. I gotta say, I expected to make it a little longer, but the Gerald/Phoebe stuff was actually longer than I though. Ah well, I'm pleased with this chapter, are you? Well you know how to tell me, until next time.**

**Feedback is love**

**P.S.: Only 9 chapters and I've already got over 100 reviews? I gotta say thank you to all the people who read this, you know it's you guys that make this writing thing even more enjoyable. Without you, I'm just a guy making up scenarios about my favorite shows and characters. So yeah, thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, and/or reviews, you have no idea how happy it makes me as an author.**


	11. Forgiveness

**Chapter ten: Forgiveness**

"I can't believe you!" Helga screeched, storming up toward Arnold. "You actually told her?!"

Arnold narrowed his eyes at the screaming brunette, clenching the armchairs of the seat. "As if that's a bad thing!" he shot back. "She deserved to know!"

"Not until she was ready!"

"Don't you mean until _you _were ready?" Arnold folded his arms and scoffed. "Which would have been never, knowing you."

"I-"

"And for the record," Arnold interrupted. "I didn't say anything about it, she figured it out by herself. Apparently our daughter _isn't_ some idiot."

Alice, who was even more confused, let her mouth fall open as she looked in between the two arguing adults. "Wait a minute, did you say _our,_" she shook her head. "You mean to tell me _you're _really my papa..." She turned to look at Helga. "And_ you're _my..."

Helga opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't think of anything and began backing toward the stairs again. "I...I can't deal with this right now."

"Well you are going to deal with this _right now_!" Arnold grabbed her by the arm. "You have no choice but to deal with this _right now_! You've put it off long enough!"

"Let go of me, football head!"

"Not a chance, unless you plan on decking me!"

"Well if you're looking for it, I'll happily oblige!"

"Hey!" Alice interrupted the two of them. "Can you two stop screaming at each other for just one second and just listen to me?!"

Arnold turned to look at the confused girl and sighed. "Go to your room, Alice."

"I don't have a room here!"

"Then go to _my _room," Helga spoke. "It's the second door on the right."

"But-"

"This isn't up for debate," her father said sternly, he pointed toward the stairs. "We will speak with you after the two of us are finished."

Alice wanted to protest more, but she could already see how stubborn these two were, so she relented for now. Besides, it wasn't like she couldn't just eavesdrop from upstairs. As the little girl grumbled and made her way toward the room, Helga turned to look at Arnold with an angry glare in her eyes, which was equally matched by Arnold.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" she growled.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Alice!" Helga began pacing the room. "What are we supposed to do about this situation?"

Arnold shrugged, unfolding his arms. "Don't try to make it seem like this is my fault."

"It is, if you hadn't said anything-"

"I told you I didn't!" Arnold hollered. "Besides, how is this my fault? You're the one that made this all happen!"

"Last time I checked, it takes two to tango. And we tangoed _a lot _back in our glory days."

"It may take two to tango, but apparently it takes one to fuck up an entire situation for three people." He sighed and fell back into the chair. "I mean, do you realize how badly you screwed up here?"

"I..." Helga decided to take a seat as well. "I didn't think any of this would happen."

"Oh, well _that _just makes me feel all better."

"Look, what can I say? I'm sorry," Helga covered her face with her hands. "Is that what you wanted? Or would you rather have me on my knees begging for your forgiveness?"

Arnold sat up straight and looked at her. "No," he said. "I don't give two shits about your apology, it's worthless when you've already robbed me of eight years with my daughter."

"Then what do you want from me?"

Arnold just sat in his chair, motionless and looking as if he wanted to throw something at Helga. "I want you to tell me why," he told her, sounding almost like an order.

"Why what?"

"Why everything," Arnold spoke. "Why didn't you ever want kids? Why did you leave me? Why did you toss away your own damn child like she was nothing? As of matter of fact, why did we even get together in the first place? Because honestly, I can't seem to remember why I even thought it was a good idea to date someone that hated me for so long."

"I don't hate you," Helga assured him in a small voice. "I never did, you _know _that. Or did you forget what I told you all those years ago?"

"That you 'loved' me since preschool?" Arnold asked with an arched eyebrow. "That you'll always 'love' me no matter what happens? I don't know what the definition of love means to you, but it must be a fucked up version of one."

"Arnold please-"

"Enough, I've still got four other questions you haven't answered," Arnold folded his arms again.

"Fine," Helga sighed. "To answer your first question, about why I never wanted kids, well that's simple. It's because-"

"Don't give me that 'my parents' excuse," the CEO told her. "It's pretty old and played out."

"Well it's the best I got," she told him in a warning tone, not wanting to be interrupted again. "Screwed up parents plus screwed up life equals screwed up person. Isn't that how it works?"

"Hey, my life wasn't perfect either," Arnold reminded her. "At least you had parents."

"So did you, they just weren't around for a while," Helga told him. "Not to mention your grandparents that raised you didn't ignore you, or call you by different name, or drink and sleep all day, or scream at you for no damn reason. If I remember correctly, _you _got to preschool in a car all happy and dry with your little umbrella."

"Oh, and now we're back to the same old sob story."

"It's not a sob story," now Helga seemed as if she were getting angry. "At least, that's not how I see it. Sure, that day sucked and pretty much set me up for the rest of my neglected childhood, but it was also one of the _best_ days of my life. Because I fell in love with you."

"Yeah, then you started treating me like shit for the next eighteen years," Arnold said. "How could I forget?"

"Well, maybe at first," the brunette told him. "But when we got together, I really tried to change. I did everything I could to be good to you, but I can't just all the sudden change who I am. And you knew who I was before you decided to get with me, football head."

Arnold scowled at her, but didn't refute her point, knowing full well that what she said was true. "Okay, I'll admit it, some of the blame falls on me for deciding to date you in the first place," he shrugged. "And stop calling me that nickname, after what you did you don't deserve to refer to me by that."

"I _gave_ you the nickname," she reminded him. "And I'll say it whenever I damn well please, you don't have to answer," she then gave him a playful smirk. "Football head."

Arnold rolled his eyes, almost feeling his lips turn into a smirk of his own. But that would actually imply he was enjoying being around Helga...which he wasn't, at all. "So, if you claim to have loved me all this time, why-"

"Arnold, don't use past tense," Helga told him. "It's really not needed." Arnold arched another confused eyebrow and moved closer slightly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean...what I'm trying to say is," Helga nervously drummed her fingers on the couch. "I'm, like, really trying my best _not _to jump you right now."

That made the CEO flinch slightly. She couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying, was she? "Hang on, are you saying that you still have some sort feelings for me?"

Helga embarrassingly looked away from him, but nodded slightly. "Arnold, if I could love you since I was three years old and hold onto that unrequited love for more than ten years, did you really think I could _stop _loving you in a mere eight years of being apart?" She sighed. "Do you want to know what I've been doing since I left you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. When I'm in public I'll just put up a front, and then I'll just go on sulking whenever I'm alone. I tried to move on from you, find some other guy, but I could never make it past a first date."

She hung her head and let out a small laugh. "I haven't even had sex since our last time together, nearly eight and a half years ago. I tried to satisfy those needs, but I can't even so much has hold another guy's hand, much less do anything like that. There's only one you, and I can't even imagine being with anyone else."

"Then why did you leave me?!" Arnold yelled. "You loved me..._still _love me for most of your life, but you just leave me without a single word? And what about Alice? Didn't you care about her at all?"

"Of course I did," Helga felt so small right now as Arnold stood from the chair. "Arnold I love her almost as much as I love you. I know I said I didn't want any kids, and I was actually planning on handing her off to a foster family right after she was born." Tears began falling from her eyes. "But when that little girl came into this world, and I held her in my arms...I just couldn't let her go. She was _ours_, something we made together."

"And what about me?" Arnold growled. "You were just going to raise her all alone? Pretend she didn't have a father?"

"No, I was going to tell you at first," Helga said. "Once Alice was born, Olga and Phoebe pretty much forced me to do it, but I could never find you. You had changed colleges, and your number, and I lost contact with everyone else from around the area, so I couldn't ask anyone about you. Then I heard that Phil had recently died, and I figured I would definitely be the last person you'd want to see, so I decided to put it off for a later date. And you know how much of a procrastinator I can be, especially when I'm terrified to do something. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and before you knew it I had officially chickened out."

Arnold watched the tears fall from her face and clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to comfort her. He was still unbelievable pissed off at her, but his damned goodhearted nature sometimes took over his better judgment. He sighed, pulling a handkerchief from his shirt pocket, handing it to the crying female across from him. Helga gave him a strange look, but took the cloth and began dabbing her eyes with it.

"Thanks," she told him. "Sorry about that." She gave him a half smile. "I guess you're still Arnold after all."

"It's like you said, you can't change who you are," Arnold shrugged. "That doesn't mean I'm not still seriously thinking about flipping over a table right now."

"I understand," Helga nodded at him. "I don't expect either of you to forgive me for what I did. I may be a horrible person, but I'm not that stupid."

Arnold immediately closed his mouth before he could say something stupid or sentimental. In his heart, he knew she wasn't really a bad person, she had plenty of good in her, he'd seen it firsthand. She was just incredibly stupid and stubborn sometimes, and she tended to make horrible decisions without thinking about the consequences.

He vigorously started shaking his head, trying to rid himself of his stupid naïve Arnold-like thoughts. He's supposed to be pissed off at her, yelling at her and giving her hell for what he did, not trying to talk himself into thinking it wasn't a big deal.

"Helga," he said. "I'll be honest, I don't think I'll be able to forgive you. Hell, I don't even know if I _want _to forgive you." He let out a small sigh. "But I can't speak for Alice, you'll have to have a talk with her."

"She'll feel the same way you do," Helga told him. "She hates me, she's always hated me since she was born. I tried to be a good mother for her, I worked two jobs, bought her everything she needed, held her as often as I could to form some sort of close bond. But she would always cry or give me dirty looks, like she was telling me just how much of a worthless mother I was."

"Well you kind of made yourself look like it by just giving her away."

"I had to, she wasn't happy here, just like you weren't happy with me," she brought her hands together. "Olga offered to take her in, she didn't want me to give her away to strangers and never see her again, even though I would have preferred it that way."

"So you can just wipe your hands clean with us."

"No! So the two people I love most in the world could be happy!"

Arnold slammed his hands on the sides of the couch Helga was sitting on, moving in close so that he was right in her face. "Jesus Christ, woman! Do you ever use that thing in your head called a brain?" he snarled. "Just once did you stop and think that maybe, just maybe, I..._we _were happy with you?"

"I-"

"Didn't you ever think that I shared your deep feelings for me? That Alice loved you as much as you did her?"

"Arnold-"

"I loved you damn it! I was happy with you! You may think you're some sort of devil, but you weren't to me."

Helga's eyes began darting around the room, refusing to look into the angry blonde's flaring ones. "T-That's only because you're Arnold, you see the good in everyone!"

"It doesn't mean I'm stupid, a little naïve maybe, but not stupid. If I thought of you the way you think of yourself, I would never have been with you in the first place." He moved out of her proximity and began storming his way toward the stairs.

"So..." Helga began quietly as Arnold made his way up the stairs. "I guess this means you really hate me now?"

Arnold was silent and continued walking until he reached the top. "I want to," he said. "I really want to hate you _so _much right now, it'd make this so much easier. I guess that's why I'm so pissed off at the moment. Because no matter how hard I try, I just can't bring myself to really hate you."

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that a small figure had moved from the front of the stairs and scurried into one of the rooms. Without another word, Arnold continued up the stairs and into Helga's room, slamming the door shut. The moment he entered the room, he noticed two things. One was tons of awards, ribbons, and newspaper clippings with her persona on it.

"She's been keeping busy," Arnold arched an eyebrow. "I guess she was telling the truth about doing nothing but working."

The second, more obvious, thing he noticed was the large lump in under the covers of Helga's bed. Arnold grinned at and walked over to the bed, sitting right next to the lump. For a while he didn't say anything, he just sat there as if he were all alone in the bed.

"Whew," he sighed to himself. "After all that shouting I could use a nap." And with that, he let himself fall back in the bed, landing right on the lump.

"Hey!" a muffled voice came from under. "Get off me!"

"Oh, is someone there? I didn't notice."

"Yeah right," Alice pushed herself out from under the covers. "You're a lot heavier than you look." Arnold smirked at her and pushed himself back up in a sitting position, allowing Alice to swing her legs to the edge of the bed to sit upright.

"I caught you spying," Arnold told her. "Even though we specifically instructed you to go into the room."

"Yeah, well there's a little thing you need to know about me," the blonde folded her arms. "I don't follow orders very well."

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Arnold let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "So how much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to know that my parents need to be in a soap opera," Alice shrugged. "And that I was obviously a mistake."

"Don't say that," Arnold sighed. "You were a surprise, not a mistake. There's a big difference."

"That's not how _she _sees it." "I don't think Helga thinks of you as a mistake either," he informed her. "She's just...I don't know. Sometimes I don't know what goes through that woman's head." He nearly slapped himself on the forehead, sometimes he just hated that good nature of his. He always found himself saying something to defend her, it was like a reflex or something.

"Obviously not, if you didn't know she liked you since she was three," Alice giggled. "Seriously, when I was three the only thing I liked about boys were the fact that they were more fun to play with."

"It's kinda hard to think someone likes you when all they did was bully you all throughout your childhood."

"She was your bully?"

"She was _everyone's _bully," Arnold smirked. "She would call everyone names, especially me, hit them, shove them into things, toss spitballs into their hair..." he trailed off when he noticed Alice looking away from him and trembling slightly.

"Alice?" he reached out and touched her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He could hear small sniffling sounds. "Are you cr-"

In a flash, Alice leaped from her side of the bed and into his arms, burying her face into his chest. _Whoa, _he thought to himself. _Where did this come from? _"Hey-"

"I'm not crying," she told him in a shaky voice. "And I'm not hugging you, I-I just lost my balance."

"While sitting down?"

"Shut up..."

Arnold nervously stared at her, but found holding onto the trembling child even tighter. "Um," he began. "You're not disappointed?"

"No," Alice told him. "Well...maybe a little. But that's only because I had crazy expectations. I thought you'd be some kind of prince or something with a big white horse." He felt her begin to relax in his grasp. "I'm just happy I really have parents, even if one is insane and the other has a weird shaped head."

"And I'm happy I really have a daughter," Arnold told her. "I thought I'd never find you."

"_You're _not disappointed?"

"Maybe a little," he joked.

Alice smirked at him slightly and found herself staring at the ground. "Um, so what now?"

"Well," Arnold set her back on the bed. "I'm not sure, I'll be staying in California for a few more days to do business. Then I'll be going back across the country."

"And I'll be going back to England with Aunt _Olga_..." she looked away from him. "Unless, you don't want me to."

"Do _you _not want to?"

"I wouldn't mind, but I was just kinda hoping...you know," now she was blushing and fiddling with her fingers. "Maybe you'd want me to live with you? I mean, I _am _your kid after all."

Arnold felt a warm smile tug on his lips as he reached out and touched her shoulder. "I'd like that," he told her. "When I get a chance I'll talk to Olga about it."

Alice nodded, trying to hide her smile, then looked toward the door. "What about...her?"

Arnold sighed, sitting next to Alice again. "I'm not sure what she's going to do," he said. "I don't even know what I want her do." He gave her a look. "You?"

"I dunno what I want her to do either," Alice shrugged, looking back at Arnold. "Why does she think I hate her?"

"She's really paranoid, always has been," Arnold folded his arms and shook his head. "I'd just wish she'd get over that already."

"Don't you hate her though?"

"I don't..._can't_." he shrugged. "I can't really hate her no matter how much I want to."

"So...does that mean you love her?"

He let out another sigh, this one sounding as if he were deflating. "For some reason, I don't know the answer to that question."

* * *

Phoebe collapsed on the side of the bed, feeling exhausted and completely satisfied as two strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist. "So," she turned to face Gerald, who had a big grin on his face. "How much of eight years do you think we made up?"

"Not nearly enough," Gerald told her. "We can try for more after getting some rest."

"Sounds good to me," Phoebe yawned, snuggling closer into his embrace.

As her eyes began to slowly close, Gerald's grin suddenly soured. He still felt a small feeling of guilt, no doubt from his earlier conversation with his soon to be ex-wife. Now that he actually had time to think and asses the entire situation, he began wondering if he did the right thing. At the very least, he maybe could have handled the situation better.

_Screaming at her about sleeping with someone else didn't help, _he thought to himself. _Damn it Gerald, no wonder you have such a bad rep with women._ He looked over to Phoebe, who looked as if she had completely fallen asleep, and gently brushed a strand of her hair from her eyes.

"At least I have you back," he told her, placing a small kiss on her cheek. "I-"

"Um, sir? Are you here?" Gerald arched an eyebrow at the sound of the voice from the other side of the door.

"It's Gerald, I'm here," he called. "Where in the world have you been?"

"Looking around for you and Mr. Shortman," she told him. "I had to reschedule your meeting with the senator, _again_."

"Sorry about that," he began to slowly get out of bed, not wanting to wake the sleeping female beside him. "Um, a few things came up."

"Whatever, at any rate you need to get out here right now, you visitors."

"Visitors?" Gerald walked toward the door. "Who's visiting me at this...hour..."

His jaw nearly dropped when he opened the door to see Sherry standing there with two other people beside her, who turned out to be G.J. and Mariah. "Hey there, _baby_," Mariah gave him a devilish smirk. "Miss me?"

"M-Mariah...what are you doing-"

"Mmm, Gerald, what's going on?"

The VP quickly whirled around to see Phoebe slowly rising from the bed, apparently having been woke prematurely from her nap. Gerald frantically looked between both Mariah and Phoebe and froze, with only one thought crossing his mind.

_Mmm, mmm, mmm. _

**A/N: More dramatic...er...drama. And wow, I did not expect Gerald to get so much hate from you guys, lol. And hopefully the wait for this chapter wasn't too long for you guys. Until next time.**

**Feedback is love**


End file.
